Jormungand: Lost Redemption
by TheTrueWrath
Summary: Lost in the world with haunting memories of past sins, Damien Hannibal Andrushko a young fallen Green Beret now turned mercenary, becomes a bodyguard for a woman named Koko Hekmatyar. He will try to become the opposite of what he once was and choose to be a free man with a better heart. Will he find the peace he yearns for? Or will his soul be forever stained in blood and misery?
1. Prolouge

PROLOUGE AND PREVIEW

This is my own personal take on Jormungand. I do not own it or any of the rights to it. This is something I wrote as a hobby.

I'm basing this off the main story as best I can until the end where Koko explains her plan and I'm going to expand it more after that so I'm making this story be seen through the eyes of Damien. He will take the place of Jonah. Don't get me wrong Jonah was awesome but he was still a naïve kid. He often interacted on what just happened around him. I based Damien a bit off of me, getting this outta the way I'm not what he looks like physically. I made him look the way he did because of his past and who he is as a Special Forces Operator give him an intimidating presence. However I based his personality, philosophies, sarcasm, humor, the way he conducts conversation, etc after me. The real him is rather deep as well as damaged and you'll find out why later in the story. and he makes his own choices, some of them would be ones I would never make. This is his story on whether or not he will choose to save himself, the world, neither, or both.

When it first came out Jormungand was actually pretty great. It had excellent character development and made some pretty great dark humor for the world of arms dealing. I also like the fact on the deep philosophy it has on how we as human's tend to enjoy killing each other. I'd like to send a big shout out to the author Blueway in his story "Manifest Destiny" about highlighting in one of his chapters about that only eight percent of all recorded history has the entire human race been at peace. The references you put in your stories are really cool dude. Even though some critiqued on that there was too much character development in place of the story that didn't bother me. I liked seeing these characters interact and their job was just what they did.

That being said, it's not as great as Black Lagoon but it's solid. What's not so solid was when during the end of the manga and anime when the story kicks into MASSIVE overdrive and then make's Koko a complete villain and her group kind of heartless. If you think about and really analyze, considering time difference, on what's happened in the world Koko's premonition was a bunch of shit. Water? Seriously? Today it's just about the superpowers flexing their military muscles to keep others in check. The big rise in Islamic Extremism, especially in Europe right now, is a very real threat. And I don't need to go any further then that considering what they did to the French. The one thing I really couldn't stand and what they beat the readers over the head with is on how bad weapons are. Granted yes, weapons of all types have only one real purpose and it's not a good one. But this argument is always beaten on these seven words "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I'm gonna do my damnedest to make this story as interesting as possible and not leave people on hold for months at a time.

On a personal side note, and this is the only time I will let my nerdom come out, Valmet is my only waifu! I mean how could any guy not like her? Apart from being smoking hot, she's strong, determined, funny, likes guns, likes knives, fights, and is a bit mentally unstable. Not to brag, but if I met her in real life, just gave me give me a day. One whole day, and she won't stop hugging me every time she sees me.

That being said, this story will be anything but happy and goofy.

Without further ado, enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Realization**

 **APRIL 30th 2011 1025 Hours**

 **Cape Town, South Africa, The Slums**

Blood. Normally most people cringe at the sight of it but I've been exposed to so much of it, it doesn't even phase me. Then again those that join the military life will get used to it eventually, even if it's their own. It still didn't make it any less painful though as the so called "Doctor" was trying to remove the 9mm slug from my left tricep. It seemed as though the adrenaline was starting to wear off, granted though I ran all the way from the docks from my former crew and friends, disappeared into Cape Town hiding a bullet wound, and hitch hiking to the one spot her damned system couldn't track me. Because no matter how advanced a computer system gets it would need to locate the device which the person uses and it needs to find me if it wants to track me. But then it hit me like running into a brick wall, I was doing the exact same fucking thing I did three years ago. When I let my anger get control of my convictions and principles and ruin my life, just so I could survive.

That system though, while it seemed impossible to construct, it was very much real. It was any tyrants wet dream come to life and was more dangerous than a hundred armies and a stockpile of nuclear warheads. I'm no computer expert but a program that can hack into other programs faster than they can adapt and take control of them without the user even knowing is the most dangerous form of cyber terrorism. And she wanted to use it to achieve her own twisted version of "world peace." Initially when she first told me that, I brushed it off and thought of it as another one of my clients empty and hopeless pipe dreams. But she meant it with conviction and determination, gathering a lot of money, resources, and personnel from the numerous arms transactions she's accumulated over the years. I just happened to land right in the final year when she really began raking in deals. I was so blind not to catch on to what she was actually planning and what's worse is she pulled extra wool over my eyes to manipulate me further into achieving her plans. Because she and I technically wanted the same thing in the end, a new world. Where she wanted a world without war, I wanted a world where I had a chance to redeem myself for all the stupid shit I've placed upon myself in my life and make right all of my wrongs. I would not care where my soul would go when I will pass on into the next life as long as I fixed and made better everything I've destroyed. But now it looks like it won't be the case, I have only one chance now and that's to stop her before she completes her system. And I won't run away and disappear from this like I did three years ago. How do you stop a monster? The answer is with another one, and ironically she pushed me out of both the light and dark and into her gray area.

"I'm surprised you are taking this with almost no reaction at all, I didn't give you too many pain killers did I?" The doctor said as he dropped the bullet into a plastic bowl.

"No, I just got a lot on my mind." He then prepared a needle and thread as was about to stich me up.

"For someone to shoot you in the back and completely miss the vital areas he must have been rather angry that your business deal went poorly."

He must have dealt with this kind of thing often, granted I was in an area of the slums where people had items like smart phones, Playstations, Bremont watches, and other items that they would have never gotten with a regular day job. And the shot didn't come from some two bit thug, it came from a trained Delta Force operator. I was lucky he did miss but then again the whole crew was trying to stop me.

"I thought you doctors weren't supposed to ask questions about how I got this way and just patch me up?"

He smiled gently as he stitched. "I apologize, unless I have to put my patient's under anesthetic I try to help them keep their mind off the fact I'm sewing up big gashes in their bodies from knife slashes and bullet wounds."

The wound was the least of my concerns for now, what I had to come up with was a plan. She managed to prove a point to the CIA spook that he could no longer get near her and at the same time she stayed off the international radar as a serious threat and was just another arms dealer. But she knew that there was only one real threat out there still remaining and it was me. But I knew I couldn't take her on by myself. I had no choice but to accept the inevitable and cross a minefield into getting help and then waging a fifty fifty chance that I'll just get picked off when and if I get across said minefield.

"When you're done, I need to borrow your cell phone." I said as I pulled an extra 500 dollars out of my wallet.

"It's urgent and a matter of life and death, not mine however. If this isn't enough how about an extra thousand?"

The doctor's eye's widened so much it was almost comical but then he relaxed and held up his hand to take the 500.

"If it's that urgent please go ahead this will be fine, I'll step outside and leave you to your business but don't cost me all of my minutes."

Out of all my training, all my hardships, and all the crazy adventures I've been on since I stepped out of West Point this had to be the most terrifying thing I've ever done. Only thing that could have made it worse was if I was actually there facing him. But he was my only chance or else I would have to go after her alone and I would die before I could even get near her. I don't intend on dying on knowing the fact that some selfish, hypocritical girl named Koko Hekmatyar took away free will from all mankind. All the feelings I had in my heart for her vanished whenever she explained her mad plan for world peace by completely tearing it apart. I still can't believe I actual said I would be by her side always, I feel like an absolute fool. On top of all that, I even shattered the heart of another woman I saw as my equal and was going to tell I loved. Some things on what she said was true, the human race is violent and brutal. So much so that we trample on each other to achieve our goals and naturally there will always be one that opposes that persons goals, that's why there's conflict. I was particularly amazed by how honest she was with herself by hating the fact she was an arms dealer but just accepted she had a knack for it and decided to go with the flow. It almost made me wanna puke by hearing that she'd use mass murder to avenge the deaths of people brought on by weapons. But then that's when it hit me. She had never been given a choice for anything in her entire life. Her upbringing, her knowledge, who she associated with was all based around meaningless violence and misguided facts. It skewed her perception of how she saw the world as something that she didn't like and like a spoiled brat she was going to throw a massive tantrum until she got what she wanted. Only this tantrum involved killing a lot of innocent people. But what solidified the fact that she was beyond gone was a simple fact. I don't know whether or not is my perception on weapons as an American, as a soldier, or common sense. Weapons don't kill people, people kill people.

Of course all that was running through my head wouldn't have mattered if the next conversation went sour. The phone began to ring on the other end and I steeled myself for it to pick up, I didn't expect an answer right off the bat because it was almost four in the morning DC standard time.

"Hello?"

Here we go. All or nothing.

"Dad, it's Damien. We need to talk."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: It All Wrong on Calico Road**

 **One Year Earlier:**

 **April 9** **th** **2010 1430 Hours**

 **Prague, Czech Republic, Boscov Hotel**

It had been a while since I had been in Europe. Even though I was constantly on the move there were only so many places on the planet I could go. The only place I really couldn't go back to of course was the states. Hell, even being in a NATO nation was risky but it's not like I had a choice if I wanted to get out of that mess in South East Asia. But considering that most people didn't know who I was gave me a bit of comfort. It still didn't change the fact that I had to keep looking over my shoulder for the last two years. Just cause I wasn't on an official wanted list, it didn't mean you were being hunted. Shadow wars are normally the dirtiest and the most unpleasant people that fight in them are the ones you don't hear about that nations want to capture or kill. That included me, and my name and exploits were made known to a lot of people. People that would shell out a ridiculous amount of money to get me to work for them. But no matter what, I kept things black and white. I chose who I was going to be employed to, at least until my anger got the better of me. That alone always kept everyone at a distance.

People avoiding me seemed to be a natural thing for me even when I was growing up. I had always been physically intimidating and having a rough voice made others think I wanted to start a fight. The real me was different though, I actually tended to avoid conflict and any time I spoke I kept it either monotone or professional as any captain in the United States Special Forces should. Some couldn't believe I was a captain despite being in my mid-twenties. But then I often forgot I was no longer part of that group, I would never be considering what I did. But I continued to keep myself physically fit and skills sharp and at the ready. Even though I technically had way more money than anyone my age should have, I always kept the way I dressed casual. A preference for black and baggy jeans along with black leather boots. The only thing that was really different about me was how I haven't had a hair cut in the last two years and it had gone down to my shoulders. As a slight breeze blew my deep brown hair to the left I noticed a woman that definitely reminded me of him, so this had to be her I was meeting.

As she approached me with her hands on her hips and a neutral type of smile normally used for introductions I couldn't help but think back to him. I'm glad that constantly smiling prick was so full of himself that he mistook me for being obedient but I guess he didn't wanna take the risk on me literally stabbing him in the back considering what he did to me. In the criminal underworld, whether it be drugs, guns, or even knock off merchandise anything could be done as long as it had a way to benefit a man's wallet. Including if that's saving your own ass. That's exactly how I got out of hot water with Kasper Hekmatyar after I killed one of his subordinate dealers and he then threw me in a shipping container for three days. He mentioned that my skills would benefit someone else as a bodyguard and that was his little sister Koko. She defiantly had an aura of mystery about her right off the bat. She was Caucasian and had pale skin with long snow white hair with piercing but gentle blue eyes. Including the fact she wore a white business dress she seemed like she was trying to portray herself as a ghost. Her name also had a mystery about it as well, her first name was of Japanese origins but like her and her brother their last name Persian. Then again I wasn't in any position to judge people on how they're named, my family always tried to sway away from the norms on how we named our children.

"So you're the infamous mercenary my brother sent?" She asked in a care free but professional voice.

"Depends, are you the woman that wants to employ in an internationally wanted killer as a bodyguard?" I answered not really caring.

She continued to smile gently at me completely unintimidated by the fact that a six foot six two hundred and eighty pound brute of a man that made a vicious name for himself in the criminal underworld by not only ranking up a huge number in both body count and property damage but also managed to escape US Military forces by driving across Kandahar by himself into Pakistan while dodging US and international authorities for the last two years.

"Rather a cold way to introduce yourself Damien, but there's never been any ice I can't melt. Now we're on a bit of tight schedule so if you could follow me."

As she lead me through the lobby my first thoughts were on how long this contract was going to be. I never really cared about first impressions or, within reason, whatever my employer at the time was up to. I had to eat and stay alive and this is what I was best at. I only just wish that it could have been something else. After a long silence we reached the top floor of the hotel and she started leading me to their suite by taking my hand as if I was some lost child.

"Step lively Captain Damien! One-two! One-two! Right-left!"

 _Guess this is the beginning of the next chapter of my already shitty life._

"All of my people are here, now that we've added you two the ranks that makes a total of nine bodyguards. They're an odd bunch but you'll be fine."

 _Dealt with my fair share of weirdo's over the years, this won't be any different._

"Normally I'd give you some time to get acclimated and settled in but like I said we're on a bit of a tight schedule and we have a bit of a problem." She continued after turning around and handing me a Browning Hi-Power pistol. "And you are going to help me resolve that problem. Think of it as an initiation to the unit and it will give us a chance to assess your skills."

 _Like any unit I've ever been in, you're never welcome with open arms. You always gotta prove yourself._

I waved her off and opened the left side of my leather jacket.

"I have my own sidearm, thank you."

The M1911A1 of course was an ancient gem of an automatic pistol, and I prefer the knockdown power of a .45 any day. I was also so glad that Kasper didn't decide to take all my personal gear but I was gonna have to wait to get it back until I was done with this first job.

"Comes prepared, your just earned one point."

She tucked the pistol behind her waste and continued to her suite. Two of her bodyguards standing outside the door, one black, defiantly another American, and the other looked like he was from South East Asia. Both wondering who in the world was following her.

"Mao, Wiley."

"Sup boss? And who's the big guy?" Wiley asked, him being the much older of the two with several ear rings and a peculiar hair-cut. I wondered how far back his career reached.

"You'll know once I introduce him to everyone."

She walked past them both and bursted open the door hard and there was the distinct sound of glass breaking.

"Everyone! Hi!" Not caring that she had just ruined a man's drink. And as usual all eyes tended to fall on me.

"Say hello to Damien Hannibal Andrushko."

There was an eerie silence across the room and everyone was giving me rather uncomfortable stares. Once they heard my name, they definitely knew who I was. It was a rather mixed group of individuals, different nationalities, some my age and others ahead of me by ten years but I knew that the vets of the group were Wiley and the greying haired unshaved guy on the ground with his shirt covered in wine. One that did stick out was a black haired and rather strong looking woman with an eyepatch. Koko wasn't kidding when she said they were an odd bunch. But I held my composure and just stared back. Koko got their attention.

"No need to freak out guys he's harmless and he's here to help us out." She then turned to the Asian man with a laptop. "Now Tojo, explain our pickle so were all on the same page."

"Hasn't really changed. The bastards have our container impounded at the port and the customs office wants you to give them a call. My guess is that they're gonna want a higher price than what we originally agreed on."

"They never planned on letting it through in the first place." She said not surprised as she looked to me. "You see the situation, the goods in that container belong to us and we need to get them back."

Squabbles between buyers weren't new to me. In the world I had accidentally wandered into, greed came up rather often.

"I know the deal. Search and retrieve, but I don't care about the big picture. All I need to know is what's the objective and what do I need to accomplish it."

"Lehm! Valmet!"

Stained shirt and eyepatch stood up.

 _That name's those two._

"We're moving out!"

 **1622 Hours**

 **Highway E55, Heading Towards the Vltava River**

The phone call to the so called customs official wasn't a pleasant one. Hearing _"Don't cross me you bitch!"_ meant that this was gonna get messy.

"Funny I was gonna say the same thing to you."

She hung up rather calmly and continued to drive with me riding shotgun loading up the mags for an M4 that was loaned to me from a guy called R. Only distinct feature about him was his accent, his English was excellent but it wasn't his first language, it had a hint of Italian in it. Lehm and Valmet, I doubt that was her real name, road in a second car behind us as the rear guard. Classic convoy, or at least in this section of the world where all the locals didn't plant IED's along every major road in the damn country cause it was the only way they could fight you.

She went back to her normal non-chalant self, smiled and asked

"Well Damien, what do you think of your new team?"

From experience first impressions never really meant much. I learned not to get too attached to people anymore, they ended up either suffering or getting killed so I kept it strictly business. But in this case I would have to connect with them but not now. Teamwork always trumps the super badass and this was real life, not an action movie.

"Not a whole lot."

As I answered in my gruff but young tone she looked over at me as if she was speaking to me normally.

"Man of few words huh? I did do some research on you before you joined up. Quite an interesting past you have."

 _You have no idea._

"I won't bring up everything but I'll stick to the common knowledge."

I decided best not to react. If that's all she knows then that's fine.

"I know where you've lived, your likes and dislikes, how far back your family goes it the US Military, your skills and training, the way you fight, and that you work for yourself. A contract mercenary with a black and white resume, that being said caused you to have just as many enemies as you do allies."

She was anything but through but the next part came and bit hard.

"I also know why you left your…well let me correct that. Killed everyone in your last unit."

 _What you failed to mention was that they were fucking scum that got what they deserved._

"Can't be bothered to answer?"

I racked the bolt on the carbine and looked dead ahead. "If you know anything about me Hekmatyar you know I'm not much of a talker or what happens when my enemies back me into a corner."

"I noticed but that isn't going to cut it with this crew." I must have struck a nerve cause she didn't look at me that time. She was right though, after that fuck up from last time I would have to interact more with her and her crew. I couldn't just let them think that I was trouble the moment I walked in the door. But for now I was on the job, I'd socialize later.

 **1700 Hours**

 **Rear Car**

In the rear car Lehm and Valmet were contemplating on how Damien's first impression left on them.

"So what do you think of the new guy?" Lehm asked

"Kinda hard to say when I've barely heard the guy speak." She said with concern. "Koko said the guy used to be a Green Beret that went AWOL in a bad way on his first deployment to Afghanistan. You've heard of him?"

"Like most mercenaries he's got a reputation but for him it depends on who you ask. Some will say he's the most reliable man they've ever had and others say he'll rip and tear through anyone that pisses him off. Employer or otherwise."

He then placed an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Anything else?"

"According to the little lady he was a bit of a West Point prodigy. Graduated two years ahead of his peers and was selected for Special Forces. His records indicate he was part of 3rd Special Forces Group, so it's safe to say he knows just about everything me and Wiley were trained with."

"Really? He looks more like a meathead model out of a men's fitness magazine." She wasn't impressed in the slightest.

"You of all people should know that looks can be deceiving." He then took out his zippo lighter.

"Well he's hiding something. I just can't figure out what yet." She then gasped. "Koko could be danger! I don't like the idea of her being in a car alone with a guy like that!"

Lehm then lit his cigarette, he didn't need to figure out that she was about to go on another tangent on how much she cared for Koko and wanted to be her guardian angel.

"She's always like this, always getting too excited with new recruits, no sense of caution." She began to scowl. "Anything happens to her and I'll kill that big bastard myse-…hyuck hyuck hyuck!" It was obvious she wasn't a fan of smoking.

"Jesus Lehm! Can you wait till were done driving to get you nic fix in? I'm gonna smell like an ashtray!"

"Yeah alright."

As Lehm put out his cigarette he looked in his mirror, two white sedans came up rather close and fast.

 **Front Car**

 _Scouts. Goddamnit. The rear car didn't even signal, looks like this will be a short contract._

"Miss Hekmatyar."

"He speaks! What is it?"

"I assume that this group has an SOP for a tail?"

"If you spot them then you get to shoot them! No mercy! Hard and heavy!"

Pretty simple rules of engagement as I didn't even let her finish talking as I stood up out of the sun roof and opened fire on the first sedan. I noticed first that some of the rounds weren't really getting through but then I thought of the obvious.

 _Armored glass don't really matter if you keep hitting the same spot over and over._

As the first sedan slid into the retaining wall I focused fire on the one behind me. Then a van came in and blocked off Lehm and Valmet. I'd let them handle that one.

"Damien!" Koko was trying to get my attention as I lit up the second car. This time I targeted the engine block and I definitely must have hit the fuel line cause the hood then caught on fire.

"Warn me before you open fire on a target! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Just floor it Koko! The real fight will be right behind them!"

 **1843 Hours**

 **Highway E55, 20 clicks to the Vltava River**

The third scout car, the armored van wanted to just block off Lehm and Valmet and we couldn't leave them behind. So our several hour trip turned out to be longer than we thought, it was already after dark and what was strange was the lack of traffic. My guess was that the Czech authorities knew what was happening and wanted to keep this fire fight as controlled as possible. I could see Valmet try to get that van out of their way with a Mk46 LMG but the rounds were just pinging off it. Then it got worse as I saw the vehicle coming up the onramp on our left, an armored Humvee.

I could hear him through the wind. "We'd be happy to give you ride to port little girl!"

The passenger said in a deep Czech accent wearing standard issue military gear. It was obvious by now whoever Koko pissed off, they didn't want us to get that container, he pulled some serious strings.

"Voskov 6?!" She said surprised. "Damn that old bureaucrat!"

I didn't know who they were but it's obvious they brought out the heavy hitters. Literally as they rammed our side but it was anything but a PIT maneuver. I couldn't shoot back because I would be essentially pissing metal. All we could do was either out run them or out maneuver them. But that wasn't what really caught me off guard. I saw Lehm's car pull up next to the van and I saw a figure standing on the roof.

 _Is she out of her fucking mind?_

I guess she was as she jumped down behind the van out of my sight, it then began to slow down. Just like in World War II if you wanted to stop a tank from causing mayhem get in close from its blind spots, pop the hatch, shoot inside, and toss a few grenades in and blow it to hell. Granted we were going about 60 miles an hour but the routine was the same. How the hell she managed to do that though was beyond me. We got off the freeway and on to some residential streets looks like they didn't want to start anything real nasty but they were still following us.

"Looks like our guys took care of those trackers for us, they're still following us but at least they're not shooting us anymore."

I kept my eyes on that armored Humvee. This time she was only half right they weren't going to shoot us anymore, they were gonna blow us up! I noticed an all too familiar targeting device normally used to destroy tanks. I immediately reached for one of the grenades we had in case of emergency but I had to time the throw right or we be roasted.

"Don't think I didn't hear you call me by my first name earlier! I think your making progr-"

"KOKO! FLOOR IT!" I screamed.

The Javelin fired, I held my breath and threw the frag.

If the Javelin ATM had any flaws besides being large and cumbersome it's not a short range weapon. It was also a two stage fire weapon, it was launched out of the tube first and then ignites and goes for its target. Meaning in theory if something disrupted its initial launch it could veer off course. The frag detonated under it and the missile went towards several parked cars blowing them up.

"Ha Ha! Fuck yeah!"

"They'll be reloaded in 20 seconds!" Koko said still in tactician mode.

Falling back on my training I acted quick on my wits to adapt quickly to the situation. It's not the missile that's really the threat it's the shooter. It was going to be a hell of a shot but I just needed to hit the targeting device or the launcher. But he won't poke his head up if he knows I'm aiming at him. Or more precisely if he sees me aiming at him.

"Koko! Keep going and turn off the car's lights!"

"That won't stop the missile from seeing the car's heat!"

"It's not the missile I'm concerned about! Trust me!"

She once again smiled and shut them off, hopefully the one with the launcher wouldn't see my silhouette out of the top of the sun roof through the thermal scope.

I switch the carbine lever from full auto to semi and took aim as he stuck his head out. Once again I held my breath and pulled the trigger.

It was safe to assume that my shot made its mark as the armored Humvee exploded in a ball of fire. He must have let it fall down into the vehicle and fired.

"WOOOOOO YEAH!"

I was falling into my more green days of an enthusiastic rookie getting off on the adrenaline. I dropped back down into the seat more than satisfied. Koko's smile remained on her like it was fixed but she held out her hand for a fist bump. Naturally I connected, and I sure as hell connected in making a solid first impression on my skill set and passing the initiation. And letting her know I wasn't an emotionless drone.

The mission was not over yet, we still had to get to the port, but it looks like we were in the clear.

"You're not what I expected Damien." She said generally interested.

"I get that a lot."

"A far cry from two years ago I bet?"

In that one moment the tension became so thick you could cut it with a knife. She did a little more digging than was necessary.

"So…you really know?" I asked.

"I won't ask you to tell the whole story, just about when you left. I trusted you back there, now it's your turn to start building trust with me. Think of it as another part of the initiation."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Seal the Deal**

 **April 9** **th,** **2010 2145 Hours**

 **Vltava River Docks, Prague, Czech Republic**

After things had calmed down a little bit Koko and I began talking with a little more dialogue than our earlier discussions. Those moments in Afghanistan had permanently scarred me. But at least I only told her about what happened after the climax. That I then fell down hitting every major pile of crap in criminal underworld until it became routine to me. That's when I truly lost a portion of myself. I then told her the one thing I desired more than anything else, a chance to redeem myself for my past sins that sent me on this road into her world in which I swore an oath to fight against. She had to of known on how I not just abandoned but betrayed my fellow Green Berets and my country by acting on what I thought was right. When in reality all I did was just make myself an enemy of the United States. Regardless of the shit the CIA was pulling in Afghanistan, what I did in their eyes meant that I had made a betrayal on a scale so huge it made Robert Hansen look like a fucking tattle tale. The fallout on how I had dragged my family's once proud military heritage into the mud as well didn't help either.

"So instead of going home and facing the music I made a choice to keep on going and keep fighting. Even if that means I have to darken my soul in order to make the world see the bigger picture on how much better it can be without needless conflict and the absence of justice."

As we were walking along the docks to her containers she looked at me intensely as if she found something she could relate to. I hoped to God that was not the case though.

"It sounds like you want to create a whole new world."

"We'll I wouldn't go that far, I'm not as arrogant as that"

Above all things I was a realist. I knew that certain things in human nature would never change but I knew as a whole that we would adapt to new ideas and norms that made sense and that was proven throughout history. Simple things like plumbing, electricity, and transportation to advanced things like the internet, worldwide communication, and digital information.

"It seems though that you are nowhere near your goal. But I think I can help you."

I stared at her in confusion as she opened the hanger door with the containers inside. I didn't know how the hell she would be able to help me with all the shit I've done in my life.

"Stop drifting around as a merc and stick with me from now on cause I can show you how you can move past your sins and not put down you gun."

Once again she was right. For the last two years I've been running around in circles and effectively been in a state of limbo still haunted by Afghanistan trying to just survive. It wasn't just money I needed to survive, I had more than enough of that from all my gigs, more than I had ever spent in my whole life. It was trying to get through each day without just wanting to plant myself somewhere like a hermit and just waste away. I was defiantly not thinking about ending my life, a permanent solution to a temporary problem wasn't gonna solve anything. I had absolutely no idea how she was planning on helping me out but I had to ask her this cause I knew for a fact she was better than this.

"You are far smarter than your letting on. It seems as though you could achieve anything with not just your intelligence but charisma as well. Why the hell are you in the business of gun running?"

She then put her finger to her lips and looked up as if she was pondering.

"I'll tell you what, you tell me the rest of your story and I'll tell you why. The truth and nothing else."

 _Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?_

"Ok. But after we get these containers out of here. Why?"

She walked forward as the lights came on above us and turned around with arms welcoming me into her kingdom, that smile still on her face.

"For world peace of course."

 _Fuck._

 **April 10** **th** **2010 0330 Hours**

 **Vikova Inn, Prague, Czech Republic**

After getting the containers back, and diving into some rather unpleasant memories, we headed towards the second rendezvous point with the rest of the team. Just like at FOB's at night we set up a roaming guard shift on the floor because after the day we had it was far from over until Koko made her final deal. Normally soft beds were a luxury any soldier wanted after a hard day but for me that needed to spring back into action at a moment's notice I just slept against a wall covered in a blanket, my .45 ready and waiting.

"Wake up man, it's your turn for- WHOA EASY!"

I sprung to my feet faster than he expected. I saw through the moonlight coming through the window that it was R.

"Sorry man, force of habit. Is it my shift?" I put my sidearm back in my holster.

"Yeah you're up with old man Lehm, were you even sleeping?"

 _After the mess my head has been in the last two years, I don't even remember a decent night's sleep._

"Well whatever, he's outside down the hall. The inn must have turned off the heat or something so grab a coat. I'm gonna go pass out."

I smelled his cigarette burning the moment I went outside the door, old vet's love their tobacco and I doubt he cared about the no smoking signs. Me I was more of a cigar guy but I rarely did it unless I had something to celebrate with. Like when I beat my dad in a sharpshooting contest when I was fifteen. I naturally started hacking up a lung but I got used to it. However there hadn't been a lot of celebratory things I had gone through recently. Whenever I did it, I did it on nights where I felt more alone than usual.

I saw him at the end of the hall. When you've been in the service long enough you tend to develop the persona of not really giving a damn but that's not the case. We just kept hearing the same shit on what to do over and over that it's like second nature. We knew what to do, we just gave off the impression that we wanted you off our asses.

"Morning." Him.

"Morning." Me.

Both of us were used to bad hours so it looked like our day had just begun. I knew I was gonna be working with these guys figure I start off with some humor.

"Saw what that pirate woman did to that van earlier, gotta say that was rather awesome."

That got a chuckle out of him. "Ha! You better not let her hear that or she'll cut off something vital."

"I won't. But after today I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

 **0400 Hours**

"You're a bit more talkative than when we first met and this is the first question you asked. So let me get this straight you wanna know why major league bad ass that's cut from the same cloth as you take a job as a bodyguard for a smoking hot lady arms dealer."

Man did have a bit of an ego. But then again Delta Operators always earn their bragging rights. They had the idea drilled into their heads that they were better than everyone else. I was no different, but I kept the thought in front of me the whole time that I was still human. So I threw the next playful jab

"I don't recall using the term "bad ass", I think you might be going senile."

Lehm let it roll off his shoulder. "You've only been with us for one day technically so you'll see soon enough. But to answer why did I take this gig? Cause it's fun, that's my reason for being here."

 _I think I might have been right without knowing, he might be going senile. Those that are part of the black ops world do have a shelf life and they wanna stay in it as long as possible. Looks like he just didn't wanna quit._

"Then again each member of the unit has their own reason too. Give it some time and you'll see what your reason is."

"Already did."

"Really? What is it?"

"I explained it to Koko. Only she needs to know that for right now, but what you need to know is that I'll be a team player and I know how to operate on instinct and fight out of a situation when I don't have backup."

"Well if the little lady knows then that's good enough for me." He put another cigarette in his mouth. "Like I said, give it some time and you'll adapt to how we operate and you'll see that Koko is very…uhh"

It was my thoughts exactly as Koko stepped outside her room with just her shirt, messy hair, and half unconscious eyes.

"She's very…special."

"Define the term special." I asked brining out my sarcasm.

He pointed her back to her room. "Koko, bathrooms back that way."

She then lurched away as if she was a zombie. I rubbed my eyes and then groaned.

 _I'm seriously gonna need major strong coffee for breakfast this morning._

 **1000 Hours**

 **Vikova Inn Conference Room**

I knew that the mess that happened yesterday wasn't going to end just by running a few car's off the road but Koko was starting to freak out.

"WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!"

She then held up a satellite photo showing several semi-trailers.

"Three hours ago a transport team crossed the border from Poland, if my intel is correct they're carrying over a dozen broken down Mi-24 Attack Helicopters. They stuffed them in the trucks and labeled them as spare parts."

 _Old Soviet technology everywhere and it's rather cheap. Wonder why this is causing her to freak?_

"Someone must have gotten word on our success and is trying to sneak in on a piece of the action. Granted this kind of thing happens all the time it's just that…ugh!"

Her face then sank into being rather depressed. "The info on this convoy came directly from headquarters and if we screw this up its gonna cost us big."

She then threw herself on the table and a total lack of reaction from everyone except me.

"OH BIG! BIG! BIG!"

All I could do is raise my eyebrow and try to wrap my head around what the hell I was looking at, Wiley looked to me.

"See the way she's rolling around like that? That mean's she's serious."

All I knew was that H&C Logistic Incorporated were the ones in charge over Koko so naturally she was worried. I'd feel better if she took it a little less comical though.

"We need to deal with this pronto! First we intercept their convoy but if they decide to play rough we play rougher so take a moment to collet your thoughts and prepare"

"Kaaaay." Everyone said in unison almost uninterested.

"Right. You guys are the best, you know what to do."

Somehow I was hoping that was true or else today was gonna be even worse than yesterday.

She looked up and addressed all of us. "Tojo, Valmet, you two handle negotiations with national defense. Lehm, Ugo, Lutz, Mao gear up your my backup. R, Wiley, handle the comms with the brass. Damien, your with me."

 **1045 Hours**

After splitting off from the rest of the team Valmet and Tojo began making their way to the Czech Defense Department.

"You said his name's Seike Kloshkin?

"Yeah a freelance arms dealer that used to work for Soviet intelligence when Czechoslovakia was still a unified country."

"Did you tell Koko that he was a former spook you know how dangerous those guys can be!"

"I didn't have to, she already knew. Besides she has half the team and the new guy with her and from what she told us you should know how capable he truly is."

She couldn't deny that, Damien did save her from getting blown up.

"Besides if you should worry about anyone it should be me."

"Yeah right, I know you can handle yourself. But Koko is the only one I'd ever risk my life for."

"Seriously? What if the Agent's from the Matrix show up?"

"I'd wish you luck and run your ass off!"

"You are so heartless Valmet!"

 **1115 Hours**

I was riding shotgun again en route to this Kloshkin characters place she handed me a second .45. Like many M1911A1 clones this was a modified Kimber.

"Take this as backup and I got intel on this guy that he's no prince charming."

"Didn't really expect him to be but I prefer not to run into another firefight two days in a row."

"That's why we have them." She signaled to Ugo and they took off.

She mentioned to me earlier that they use specific hand signals that only they know about so they can take opponents off guard. Same method that SEAL's use when then need to communicate silently when sneaking up to enemies. I'd have to learn those later.

"For the purpose of this meeting you're not a soldier."

Even I knew that that act wasn't going to last. "What the hell am I supposed to be? A guy my size can't pass for much else."

"Hmm…you know what let's just say you're my boyfriend and your tagging along with me as my ride. Just trust me and keep up the act until I give the signal."

 _Oh boy, day's not even started._

 **1135 Hours**

 **Kloshkin's Office**

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Kloshkin, I'm Koko Hekmatyar."

"Yes from HCLI, I've heard of you please excuse the mess, I've just begun to set up shop here."

He immediately turned to me I saw the look in his eye that he knew something was off, his nice guy act wasn't fooling me.

"Who is this rather large gentleman with the long hair?"

"Well it's a bit embarrassing to say but this rather gorgeous hunk is my boyfriend! He's been driving me around because my car is in the shop."

She kept her act going. She grabbed my right arm tight and leaned her head into my chest.

"I don't really have an interest in what Koko's doing for today as long as I can spend the day with her."

I hoped he was buying it, I was trying to be more upbeat than my usual self.

"Not a problem. If you don't care sitting through boring things about numbers and what not. So let's talk business."

 **1145 Hours**

 **Czech Defense**

On the other side of town, Tojo and Valmet were having their meeting with the representative Colonel from Czech defense.

"So you're asking me to cancel delivery of the Hind's. It's not impossible but the recent deal your boss made has made us consider upgrading our arsenal."

Tojo then held up his phone. "Allow me to confirm with Miss Hekmatyar."

 **Kloshkin's Office**

Back at the office Koko replied "Use the anti-aircraft missile deal next." Kloshkin looked on in confusion.

"That's your tactic? Plunge into a bidding war right off the bat? Can't show common courtesy to a fellow arms dealer?"

"I'm afraid not. As far as I'm concerned you haven't earned any courtesy. This is how I see the situation Mr. Kloshkin, I had a pasture full of cows and you tried to slip one into my heard. Now you want to try and take it back and it won't be my fault if you get shot in the process."

 _Oh fuck. Here it comes._

A deeply enraged look came over Kloshkin's face as he grabbed the coffee pot and smashed it against Koko's head. Naturally instinct took over and I sprung up gun drawn and grabbed him by his collar and place the .45 in his left eye socket.

"DAMIEN STOP!"

I tilted my head in her direction but I didn't take my eyes Kloshkin.

"I told you to trust me."

 _Fuck._

I flipped the safety on and let Kloshkin take the gun and prayed she knew what she was doing.

"Smart for you to listen to your boss, nothing good will come from shooting me."

I knew he wasn't buying the whole boyfriend farce. I should have known that people do like to pay attention to what others are doing the underworld especially if they used to be spy's. It kept them ahead of everyone else.

"So my intel was correct, you managed to pull in the infamous mercenary the US government had designated appropriately with the code name "Nightmare", you might be a bigger piece of shit then I am."

It hit hard and it hit painfully. I didn't learn about it until much later but it was appropriate. With all my skills on how to kill people as a Green Beret with guns, knives, my bare hands and with what I did in some of my jobs where the areas were a little too grey and how I dispatched some of my enemies was made accessible to the numerous US Intel agencies that they knew what had escaped from them and what was loose in the world. I was something of a real life nightmare. And unfortunately if Kloshkin kept pushing he would have seen it.

"I also know that you do have a team at your beck and call but I warn you not to try anything stupid. If you do my snipers will blow your heads off."

I did notice that the building across the street from where we were at had a perfect vantage point. He could pick us off at any time. But Koko just winked at me and continued to smile.

 _That's why you told me to stand down. Lehm and the guys are probably clearing them out._

 **1158 Hours**

It was almost noon when Kloshkin picked up his phone, believing that he had won.

"It looks like your time is almost up, the delivery of the Hind's is right on schedule."

He was arrogant to a fault, he didn't frisk me to see if I had another gun. If things did go wrong and Lehm didn't find the snipers I would just have to kill him, grab Koko, and crawl out of the office and hope we didn't get hit.

"I hope we can be more social in the fu-"

"You really are stupid you know?" Koko cut him off.

"Excuse me?" That mad scowl had come back.

"Take a good look in my eyes Kloshkin, stare long enough and you'll see your reflection. But I see nothing in you. We may deal in arms but our real business is the people behind the weapons."

"The fuck are you ranting about?!" He squinted his eyes in anger.

"I'm glad cellphones are waterproof these days." She ignored him.

"I'm warning you-"

"Your snipers? Give them a call." She cut him off again.

Across the street, Lehm, Lutz, Mao and Ugo had found them.

" _Hey boss I think we got them all_." Lutz was on his radio.

"Good job guy's head back to the rendezvous point."

An immense fear came over Kloshkin, he was shaking all over, he had no one to keep him safe from the two monsters sitting in front of him. I pulled out my second sidearm and kept it on my lap in case he tried to do anything stupid.

"One more call." Koko continued. "Right now your life is worth a single sheet of paper."

It was the call to confirm the deal with Tojo and the Colonel. He confirmed.

" _Right, the Hind's are now contraband and the form has just left the Colonel's hands._ "

Creeps like this were all the same when I first started walking this path. They claimed to be so ruthless that they think they're untouchable but once they get hit with overwhelming odds they show their true colors. Kloshkin was no different, he looked like he was about to piss himself. I stood up, looked at him right in the eye, raised my .45 and pulled the trigger. Koko made a gesture with her hands and said "Bang." at the same time.

"Koko." I turned to her and leaned down to look at her head. The blood still fresh but the cut wasn't deep. "Head wound's just bleed badly it's not serious."

She then stood up. "We're all done here, let's go."

I stopped her before we left the room.

"But still, that was rather reckless. I know you got Lehm and the guys to clear the other building but they couldn't clear 12 floors in a matter of minutes. Kloshkin could have gotten even more pissed and could have just killed us right off the bat before Lehm got to the snipers."

She continued to look at me with that smile. I didn't know whether or not she wasn't listening or didn't care. I turned for the door and she grabbed behind me tightly giggling like a girl.

 _But still, I'm glad this didn't get as bad as I thought it would._

In the last two years drifting across three continents I haven't come across a crew like this before. There were things I couldn't deny, they were charismatic, they were intelligent, they were fierce, and yet at their core they were very much human. I'll think I'll stick with them for now and Lehm was right, Koko is kinda special in her own way. Her mind works incredibly fast, I just hope she slows down a bit so I can catch up.

 **1700 Hours**

 **Vikova Inn, Koko's Suite**

It seems as though celebrating a good arms deal today was by making me the cook for making everyone dinner tonight. It didn't bother me though I've been cooking for myself for years so I knew how to prepare for guests, Koko at least gave me enough cash and time to stop by a super market and grab the ingredients I needed. It would have to be fast cause we were gonna leave first thing tomorrow morning to catch up with Tojo and Valmet and we couldn't leave leftovers. So I though chicken scampi with white wine and angel hair would be good enough. Anybody could have the wine, but I wanted some Pilsner Urquell.

"Smells great kid, didn't picture you for a chef. Anyway how was it working with the boss?"

I didn't sugar coat it. "She pissed off the other dealer and I let her get her head cut open."

"Well it was part of the plan. And she did tell you to trust her right?"

"Right."

"So don't sweat it. But do sweat about the food getting done, we starving."

"You can't rush Italian old man, flavor won't come out properly if you do."

My presentation could have been fancier but everyone looked like they were starving so I didn't waste time.

Koko stood and addressed me. "This is an important moment for you Damien. This marks you as being welcomed into the crew. You're part of a family now and a team you can rely on."

I didn't react. But in my head, the bad memories came rushing back. On how I betrayed my men that trusted me with their lives. How I stained the honor of the United States Special Forces group by going on a rampage. How I tarnished my real family's name and dragged it into shame. And how I made the CIA put a price on my head by hunting me for the last two years.

I just smiled back at Koko and said. "Whatever, just make sure you enjoy this slop. I've been busting my ass for the last two hours making this all for you guys."

"Kaaay." They reacted with their monotone uninterested response.

 _Better get used to that. That's seems like something they do frequently._

Surprisingly, some of them wanted seconds.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: New Rival's in an Old War**

 **May 6** **th** **2010 1300 Hours**

 **The Russian-Georgian Border**

It had been a rather quiet month that I spent bouncing around Europe with Koko and her crew. Since I was just getting acclimated I still needed to know how the team operated one at a time. So the majority of the time we spent at several designated HCLI training camps analyzing our skills and drilling in VIP protection, marksmanship, and the in's and out's of how we do transactions in weapons. Naturally I passed with flying colors, the Prague job not included. And I finally got my gear back, I would have to be a little more tactical to where we at now anyway. While a new spot, it was familiar territory, The Caucuses.

This area used to be the crucial oil fields for the Soviet Union. Seeing around I saw how empty this land was, the only thing that made it any value was its natural resources. Once the Soviet Union broke up and the newly independent countries of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia were formed. But territorial disputes caused much fighting between the groups that wanted to break away from Russia along the Georgian border, specifically Chechnya. During Stalin's time he deported almost 800,000 different ethnicities, over half of them Chechen to central Asia and Siberia because he thought they would help the Nazi's. A quarter of all those people who were deported died. During the 90's multiple border disputes continued as well as a ten year civil war in Chechnya that ended just last year. The year before that, the Russian's decided to flex their military muscles and gain a foothold near Georgia by granting the recognition of two tiny republics called Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Catch was that most of their influence and funding came from the Russian state. Very similar to the satellite nations they had in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, only much smaller. That being said, something was gonna flare back up again. Almost as if it was inevitable, I could tell by listening in on the radio as Koko was on her Sat-Phone talking to HCLI HQ.

"Is the signal being jammed?!"

…

"Don't say maybe! That doesn't cut it! Identify the problem now!"

Lutz was riding with her. "Look out world, little ladies pissed off again."

She groaned. "Ugh. Those idiots at HQ are useless, I'm so sick of this shit. We can't meet up with Valmet and Tojo if I can't reach them."

It was weird however, I was looking at my phone and I had five bars when we left Kutaisi when we were getting more fuel for the road trip and now I had nothing. I tucked it back into my personal kit, all too glad to have it back. While everyone else just had their weapons and carrying vests, I was more pragmatic. Everyone kept giving me weird looks when we're prepping to move out for the border like I was over prepared. I looked like I was ready for war and since I did have money I wanted to use the best gear. The brand new EXFIL ballistic helmet and ballistic sunglasses were much more versatile than the standard model Army Combat Helmet's and bulky goggles. I was able to place my earpiece there without shifting my helmet. My plate carrier had room for all my ammo and tech along with my field knife on my left pectoral and a modified pouch I had to sling an short M870 shotgun across my back. With two .45's at my hips and an HK 416 carbine which was way more durable than the M4 I borrowed from R. Tricked out with a hybrid sight and a M320 grenade launcher, I was naturally prepared for anything. Lutz said it was gonna weigh me down but people often forget on how much of an athlete I can be. Only thing that didn't make me glad though was I had to ride on top of one of the rigs as a guard with no safety harness. Wiley had been given the same task as he was in the front truck and me in the rear. And if we rolled, our day was gonna suck more than anyone else's.

"There's something else that's bothering me." Koko's voice came on the radio again. "Who the hell are these guys?"

I looked up front and saw what appeared to be an old BRDM-2. Wasn't moving fast and didn't seem hostile, yet.

"That's one of the border patrols vic's." Lehm came on the net next. "How we gonna play this out?"

"Keep going." She said. "If they wanna put an armored car against a-"

 **BOOM!**

The convoy screeched to a halt as I grabbed anything to avoid flying off the truck. Classic IED ambush, after we stopped I was immediately scanning around if anyone was watching us. Best spot was the hillside to our left, only spot anyone could hide considering we were driving along a ridge to our right that lead straight into a valley.

Suddenly Lutz came on the net. "The hell are you doing!? Get back here!" I glanced over the front of the convoy.

 _Christ! After all the gun fights she's been through she'd have the decent sense to stay in the car!_

It was instinct for a soldier to want and go and help his friends after they were hit with an IED but that's how stupid men died. More often than not there were always secondary's or a squad waiting to ambush the convoy. In Iraq, a route clearance unit would use their sweeping vehicles known as Husky's to clear the area around the hit vic and once they gave the all clear. The retrieval crew would get the wounded out.

But Koko was running to the valley, she noticed that there was smoke coming from it. Then I heard her shout,

"What the hell is THIS!?"

Lehm got out to her in a slow walk, hopefully making sure he didn't step on anything nasty, smoking along the way. Man was a chain smoker through and through. I wondered when cancer was gonna hit him.

"Looks like they're fighting over that oil pipe line. We just landed ourselves in the middle of a war and that's not all."

He handed Koko his binoculars and a look of frustration came over her.

"Cell towers, microwave dishes, relay towers, all destroyed by who ever got there first." Lehm continued.

I could already see where this was going, someone doesn't want this little war going public or they'd drag the international community in on this.

"Shit like this goes down, both sides wanna control information. Which means covert war equals total blackout, which also means no phone's either."

Koko looked at him slowly. "You sure know a lot about this type of thing Lehm."

"I guess."

 _No shit he knows a lot about this kind of stuff. Covert war is what Special Forces do best. You sneak in, do as much damage to or acquire the key targets, and then exfiltrate before anyone knows you were there. Unless it's part of the objective, you don't rack up a huge number in property damage or bodies._

As she then went into one of her rants, I suddenly I heard Russian from the wrecked armored car. Turns out they survived.

"Da, my vse v poryadkre. Ya dumayu, chto eto dilera mayor ozhidayet."

(Yeah we're ok. I these are the dealer's the Major is expecting.)

 _Looks like he's got friends and they're on their way._

Learning five different languages wasn't easy. But if you kept to the basic stuff and observed what was around you, you became more fluent. I shouted to everyone.

"Hey guys! We got inbounds looks like they work for whoever your buyer is Koko!"

Her wild flailing of her arms stopped as she heard multiple footsteps coming from behind them. She then spoke Russian.

"Vse v poryakde mal'chikov. My ne vrag."

(It's alright boys. We're not the enemy.)

"That doesn't make us friends though." She finished in English.

 **1325 Hours**

 **Svaneti, Russian-Georgian Border Town, The Buyers Camp**

The buyer had gone by the name of Major Pollak but he didn't dress like a military man like the rest of his men. My guess is that they were a PMC, cause unless this was a behind closed hangar deal the Georgia government wouldn't buy anti-air missiles from an arms dealer in the middle of a battle. He also spoke English quite well so I could at least hear in on the deal whether or not it went bad. After the mess with Kloshkin, I wasn't gonna take any chances. At least the whole crew was here and not just the two of us.

"Nice to finally meet you in person Miss Hekmatyar, I must say you look a lot younger in person."

"Nice to meet you Major Pollak."

"I do apologize for my men, they are a bit on edge. But I'm glad to see all the missiles I ordered came through."

"Of course, now if you would just sign-"

"Now now let's not rush this through. Sit down, have a soda, I know you have a few questions you want to ask me."

She wanted to leave as quick as everyone else but she decided to humor him.

"So tell me, when did the shit hit the fan?"

"Eight hours ago." He answered.

"I thought Lieutenant Colonel Grant was going to take this shipment."

 _Grant? Called it. These guys were definitely hired by someone but I don't care about this fight. I want this deal over and done._

"Well things change and not everyone has the stomach for every type of operation. So for now let's just forget about him for now."

At least whoever this Grant character was he must have thought better, this Pollak guy on the other hand seems to want to make a big investment so he can make a big profit.

 _Blood for money. Then again I'm in no position to lecture him. That's what a mercenary does._

"Ha ha ha! I thought that was you Koko, long time no see!"

I turned to the posh English accent and saw a woman with auburn hair, brown eyes and aviator sunglasses in her hair as well as a big and obvious preference for knives. Standing next to her was tan skin, dark haired man with two large burn scars on the left side of his face. Both dressed in military fatigues and plate carriers.

"Mildo, and Lou's with you as well." She said sarcastically.

I put two and two together, rivals from another company. She went to Koko, placed her hands on her shoulders and looked around like a curious child.

"Where's Valmet?"

"She's not with us on this run but if you two are here then that means…ah there you Mr. Currie. The President of England's CCAT" Once again, two and two.

"It's nice to see you again Koko, what a coincidence."

 _Liar._

"Coincidence, my ass."

After Currie, Pollak, and Koko sat back down to continue business, Mildo came over to me with an eyebrow raised, I did stand out. I then stared down as she looked up to me.

"Help you dear?"

She snickered. "Who's the walking tank? And is that a ponytail?! It's adorable!"

She burst out laughing but I kinda had that one coming. I enjoyed having my long hair but I did have to find some way to keep it out of my eyes during a fire fight.

The conversation at the table continued.

"What does Currie have for you Major?" Koko asked.

"Stinger missiles."

"New warhead's with upgraded launchers. They'll swat enemy gunships out of the sky just like during the Soviet-Afghan war." Currie finished for him.

In the 80's the one thing the Mujahedeen Freedom Fighters truly feared other than the Soviet Spetznaz were Hind Gunships. But that quickly changed when we started sending state of the art Stingers to the rebels. The Hind had a nasty heat signature that made it an easy target. Koko obviously did not care, she looked like she had enough.

"Well now that our deal's been done we'll be on our way." But Pollak stopped her.

"Wait there's something else I need, a new radar dish. My was destroyed and I need a replacement ASAP!"

He may have sounded like he was pleading but I think we all knew he was demanding.

Currie looked down. "That's out of my hands."

Koko looked back "That's not something I carry with me."

Currie then formed a devious smile. "But surely someone at your company can procure something like that on short notice."

He paused and then looked to her. "Your father, Floyd Hekmatyar is a naval giant. And it's no secret that most of Europe and Africa's main sales in naval weaponry and equipment is personally overseen by you Koko. You can't expect us to believe you can procure a simple radar dish."

She was burning a hole through Curries skull. He was playing her for something but it looks like she didn't take the bait as she started spinning around like a ballerina. Like Wiley told me last month, she was serious.

"Nope! Not happening! Too bad! So sad!"

Then it hit the fan as I expected.

"You're not leaving! I need that radar dish!"

His men drew their guns at us and we did the same, classic Mexican standoff.

Lutz was the one that broke the silence insulting them in German.

"You have your answer now you arschlochs better back off!"

"Lutz! Calm down." She then approached Pollak.

"Let's not go full scale Tarantino Major Pollak, I'll admit I underestimated you. You're making a complete information blackout out here and I'll bet your infantry have been given orders to kill anyone who tries to flee out of this valley to prevent this little war be made public."

As usual her intuition was spot on. "You want to keep the pipe line all to yourself."

"You make it sound so ruthless when you put it that way." He said almost embarrassed. "But you're right about one thing, a soldier does earn his pay by killing people and my men are very well paid."

Currie was looking on with a smirk like he had won. Pollak then began to walk away from the table.

"And as the leader of these men it's also my responsibility to get them the necessary resources they need to get the job done." He then put on the same beret as the rest of his men had. "Now please go get me my radar dish, and you will be well compensated for the purchase. You have my word."

As I saw him walk off into his command tent I then felt a squeeze on my cheek. Mildo was pinching it.

"That was a close one love but the storm has passed."

"If this is your way of hitting on me it's a little weird. I suggest a new approach."

She laughed again. "You really are adorable! What's your name?"

"Damien."

As Currie stood up and began to walk off he mentioned to Koko. "Rather prickly individual, dangerous as well."

"He's nothing, why don't you three run along home." Unintimidated as usual.

As we walked back to the trucks Lehm asked. "What's the deal?"

"We follow through." She said with words but spoke through her hands with one of the signals I learned last month.

 _We're running for it. Pretend we agreed._

"We need to catch up with Valmet and Tojo. It's only a guess but I'd say Pollak is about of cash. He's only gonna pay if his side wins." After we were back on the road she shouted through the radio.

"I am not a bank! I will never accept credit!"

 **1830 Hours**

 **Kalak Valley, Just over the Russian Border**

The fighting was not just at the pipeline but in the surrounding valleys next to the border. There was some pretty steep elevation in a few areas but what really made the terrain difficult to move around in was the dense forests that covered most of the valley. Infantry could only do so much if they didn't have mobile support. This however didn't bother Valmet, she knew how to fight as part of a mechanized battalion and saw the poor example of it outside. She leaned back on a bed in a dilapidated house and sighed.

"I really don't like this. Koko said for us to meet the rest of the team at that pass and that was hours ago."

It was just after sun down and automatic gun fire and mortar were going off all through the valley. Tojo looked out the broken window through his binoculars.

"The hell were we supposed to do. It's not our fault those guys decided to make a fire fight in the middle of our rendezvous."

He continued to look with the beautiful sunset composed of bright purples, oranges, and pinks. The sky above was clear and the stars then began to come out.

"Sun's going down and they're still at it, that's dedication."

Valmet scoffed. "Dedication? More like stupidity, they're rank amateurs all of them."

"Someone's in a mood. Tell you what, we rest here and check on the pass in the morning. Deal?"

"Fine with me." She said as she relaxed a little more in the old bed.

"And at least this old house still has power. We can still charge our cells and spare batteries."

"Yeah it ain't so bad. Kinda nice sleeping under the stars."

She looked up to the night sky, since the old house no longer had a roof from a mortar strike.

 **1900 Hours**

 **Pollak's Camp, Koko's Convoy**

At least Pollak knew we couldn't just pull a radar dish out of our ass, he would have to give us time to get one. I just hoped Koko knew what she was doing. But given the amount of time we had we had more than enough to give Pollak the slip. He did manage to give us a chance to get away from the majority of his troops by smashing all the comm satellites. So all we really had to do was just get to an area that had a working one. But we'd have to figure that out tomorrow. I then took off my helmet and laid down on the truck container roof, I had slept on worse surfaces. As I looked up at the stars I heard climbing on the side, Koko poked her head up.

"Little early to try and sleep Damien."

"Meh. Normally when it gets dark a lot of shit stops. Plus it's nice out tonight, won't even need a blanket."

She then hopped up on the container and sat down next to my head.

"Well _my_ shit is just starting so no sleeping yet." She then flicked my forehead.

"Alright alright." I then sat up. "You at least figure out a plan to on how we gonna get out of here?"

"Give me a few hours and I'm unstoppable. But we can't do anything till tomorrow morning so for now we play the waiting game."

I then checked my 416. "Well as long as you don't decide to run out of a car whenever some shit blows up again we're cool."

She then grabbed me like I was something rather cuddly again. I then looked at her and wondered what in the hell was her problem.

"Excuse me I am not a little puppy."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Bait and Switch**

 **May 7** **th** **2010 0800 Hours**

 **Svaneti, Russian-Georgian Border Town, Pollak's Camp**

We were gonna be on a bit of a leash today. Pollak was sending two of his men along with us as insurance so that we could get across the pass without getting blown to hell by his patrols.

"I know you want to contact your headquarters at HCLI and I'll let you do that. Soon as you're on the other side of the pass you'll have reception again. I know you'd much rather use that fancy Iridium phone of yours but unfortunately this is one of the only spots in Europe where it doesn't have any reception."

Man chose the perfect spot to wage a private war if sat-phones couldn't work here.

"I'll have two of my men accompany you so you can get through the pass safely." He waved to his men and they walked to our car. "Take care, and if you try anything I will kill you."

I still didn't know how we were just going to run for it. In a fight I could out maneuver and out think an enemy contact and get away alive. Getting out of a bad business deal while you were on a leash was a bit out of my league. I'd have to let Koko plan this one out again. But I'd figure I'd lighten the mood a bit and turned to Lehm.

"Hey I can't really tell yet. Are we officially boned?"

He let out a puff of his cigarette non chalant as ever.

"Nah, only if we have to give that asshole his radar dish."

We then rolled out. However I wasn't running shotgun with Koko this time. It was one of Pollak's thugs. He immediately got under my skin with his first words. I don't think he realized it but both of us knew a little bit of Russian.

"Tsk. You and your crew think your real bad asses don't ya? People like you make me sick, how many deaths are you responsible for?"

 _Man really doesn't have a fucking clue. She may supply the guns but in the end it's always the asshole behind the trigger than ends another man's life._

"I guess whatever fancy college you went to didn't offer a class on ethics."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just a merchant. I never went to any form of school let alone college."

I kept learning more and more crazier shit about her every day and it's only been a month. No certified formal education in her life? It made me wonder how the hell she grew up. More so who even taught her anything and what. It seemed like she was bred specifically for this line of business.

"Despite my lack of formal education I know more about weapons than a shithead like you could ever learn in a lifetime."

 _Burn._

"It's also unfortunate. Cause I find it rather pathetic that I have to hand over my quality merchandise to soldiers not even worthy of welding BB Guns."

I didn't even need to do anything. Now she was getting under HIS skin.

"And now you've pissed me off. So I suggest you stop talking."

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

I racked my .45 and placed it at his left temple before he could finish.

"Listen cock shine. I suggest you put that gun back in its holster and do what she says. Cause unlike her, I don't get angry I just kill." He got the point and turned his head forward.

 **1350 Hours**

 **Orin Pass, Kalak Valley**

"Stop here. This is Orin Pass your phone should work now." The thug mentioned and we got out of the car, fog was rolling in rather late in the day.

Koko took out her phone. "Well let's try it. Here Damien."

I punched in Tojo's number and listened.

"She's ringing. We got reception back."

"Awesome!"

Or maybe not so awesome as we were immediately drowned in the distinct sound of rotor blades. I looked up and saw a familiar shape, the Mi-24 Hind D Gunship, two of them.

I screamed out to the group. "EVERYONE! OFF THE ROAD NOW!"

Koko pointed out. "Those are not the Georgians, those are Russians!"

The gunships then opened fire but we weren't the target, they were hunting something else. Then I saw a rocket fly off the ground but missed the lead chopper. If those were Currie's stingers he must have gave Pollak a bad batch. I then looked over at Koko an she was smiling again I didn't know what she was looking at but she didn't take her eyes of the gunships. I then noticed movement in the brush, must have been more of Pollak's men.

"Friendlies!" I shouted in Russian and then slung my carbine across my back to let him know I wasn't hostile. He then gave the signal for us to crawl to him. Koko spoke next.

"Are you part of Pollak's squad with the stingers?"

The guy wasn't stupid, he answered bluntly. "I'm not telling you that!"

Koko then spoke to him with urgency. "Your men will be as good as dead if they stay here. Get them away from the Hind's. If you don't believe me take a look at their noses."

I looked as well. Wasn't the same model, but it was the same device. A FLIR system, if it was warm then it could see you, making camouflage useless. The Hind's came around for one more strafe and then flew off. Looked like they didn't want to take another risk if one of Currie's stingers DID work. The soldier then stared in confusion after the gunships left. Koko didn't stop smiling.

 _You're not alone in that man. I still haven't figured that out either._

"Well you were lucky, now get outta here!"

"We were just going to do that."

After we marched back up to the convoy, thankfully still intact, I decided to be up front with her. As well as speak English since our "guests" were still with us.

"Why don't we just give this asshole what he wants and we can go home? If he says he'll pay us fine and if he doesn't we just waste him later."

She pondered for a second that that might seem like a good idea and then leaned on the car.

"My gut. This battle will be short, two days at the most. In the end no one will really win and Russia is full of skirmishes like this. Pollak has more ambition than he could afford. They'll be more fight's like this over the next few years, none that will be decisive of course."

She did do her homework, referring to the skirmish in 2008 when Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as states but only partially as far as the rest of the international community was concerned.

"In the end, no one would get control of that pipeline and plenty of dealers would be drooling over the chance to sell more arms to whoever is wanting to fight for that pipeline. But that's not how I conduct my business and we have no more of it here."

"Basing all this all on your gut is a big gamble you know."

"Being part of this team means trusting my intuition. Can you handle that?"

 _It's time I finally hit her with some of my own intuition._

"Gut feelings and facts are two totally different things. When the evidence is overwhelming you just accept it and move on. For example it's true the Chechen's may have stopped fighting against the Russians last year, but they're not done yet. They're just licking their wounds and waiting for the time to hit back again and that fight was three times as long as the first one back in 92. Who's to say that they won't try again? Because unlike around here they're not fighting for resources cause eventually they run dry, they're fighting for an idea. Freedom."

The crew looked at me in disbelief as I was challenging Koko in a battle of wits. But I let them.

"Granted everyone's idea of freedom is different, but it's an idea none the less. And unlike armor, an idea is not that easy to break." I paused and slung my carbine back around to my front. "However, I trust _you_ Koko, if I didn't then you'd be dead back in Prague and all of you would be lining up for a chance to skin my ass alive. Valmet especially, am I right?"

That did get a laugh out of everyone then R spoke up. "She would take the most time out of all of us."

I looked down to her. "Shall we move out?"

The smile still hadn't faded. "I'll make the call."

 **1410 Hours**

Once the fog cleared we continued along a dirt path. Lehm and I on point and the two wannabe Spetznaz flanking Koko.

"Who are you talking to?" He said as I turned around being as subtle as I could pretending I was scanning our sectors.

"I'm confirming with HQ where to pick up the goods, have a little patience." I saw her poke out her tongue very slightly.

 _That's the signal, here we go._

Suddenly Valmet flew out of the tree's and landed on the right thug and Tojo tackled the other one like a linebacker, the rest of the squad jumping in to hold them down.

"Tie them up good and gag him, he pisses me off too much and Damien might kill him."

"Miss us?" Valmet asked.

"So glad to see you again!" She was hugging her a little more that she should as I saw Valmet blush.

 _Guess that answers the question of why she likes me the least out of the whole group. I'm the total opposite of everything she likes._

"Ok everyone let's move out to our next checkpoint."

 **1912 Hours**

 **Near the Georgian Border**

Move out? More like a run a fucking marathon it was past nightfall by the time we got to where we were supposed to go. An old logging mill, I figured we settle in there for the night. Even though I had my NVG's, Lehm got first dibs on seeing if it was clear or not. Probably Koko punishing me for trying to out-do everyone. I saw that he was met by another figure but I saw the uniform through my lens that made the world green.

"Well, well look who it is. Let's chill Lou." He turned around and called for us. "It's ok, it's just our friends from CCAT."

"No it's not ok!" Lou was not too pleased.

When we got inside I saw why. Currie was gritting his teeth so hard I was expecting one of them to chip. His own Russian escort was nowhere to be found. Looks like one of his bodyguards got too trigger and/or stab happy. Koko looked at Currie with a grin all too eager. I could tell what she was thinking.

 _Now who's got the short end of the stick._

"Well Mr. Currie fancy running into you here. What a coincidence!" She said sarcastically. "Thought you'd be on your way back to jolly ole England by now."

She was definitely throwing the hard punches and Currie couldn't hit back cause he had nothing. He had to have realized that the Stingers he sold Pollak were junk and he now had a target on his back. It didn't seem to bother Mildo though as she approached Valmet.

"Been a while yeah?"

"I guess."

Mildo looked like a hunter stalking its prey.

 _Oh shit we're so close to getting out of here please don't let this blow up too._

"Do you have any idea how fascinating I find you?" That took me off guard. "I mean a one eyed woman soldier, and just the thought of you fighting with that knife gives me chills."

I didn't know whether or not she was praising her or hitting on her.

"Wanna have a go?"

Valmet was just as exhausted as the rest of us, she didn't have time for this shit either. "Pass."

"Mr. Currie!"

"Shut up! You've done enough fuck ups today alone just sit still and be quiet!"

"I don't know how!"

I felt like I was in the middle of some very weird sitcom. Mildo was acting the perfect high school princess wanting to challenge the cheerleader on who was more popular. Only this involved knives and bloodshed.

"Anyway did you kill the two guards that were sent with you?" He asked Koko.

"No. Tying them up was good enough."

"Well that stupid woman killed ours."

 _Called it._

Koko actually reacted in shock which seemed a little off.

"I know Pollak's more than likely to send his men after us to find out what happened."

"More than likely."

"Why don't we send out a couple of scouts just to be safe?"

She looked down with her hand on her head, then looked to Valmet and pleaded. "I'm so sorry Valmet, would you mind."

"No prob."

I recognized the hand signal. She was gonna stall Mildo. This day had already been stressful enough and the last thing I needed was for them to kill each other. Or even worse, Pollak's men were right on our ass. I decided to back her up.

"Hey R." I whispered.

"What?"

"I'm not taking any chances if Pollak's lackeys actually show up, I'm gonna follow them. If Koko asks where I went make something up. Tell her I had to shit real bad, anything."

"Your funeral man." He looked at me as if I was walking to my death.

 **1921 Hours**

After following them for a few minutes they stopped and I kept quiet behind a tree. I was only gonna jump in if one of them was actually going to kill the other.

"Well it looks like you get your wish. I can't say no to Koko."

"She's changed hasn't she? I mean the last time I saw her in Russia she was amazing. And now she's even more amazing."

"Koko was best then and she still is."

Mildo made a sadistic smile and went in first. "Let's play!"

The lady was a pro. I could tell way she held her two blades at once. Sword and shield and the same time. I then drifted into thought about what regular grunts back home would think about a fight like this. Odds are two to one most of them would be drooling and have half an erection. They wouldn't even recognize the fact that two women like this could have killed them before they knew what hit them. I could at least take pride in the fact that some guys saw a woman with a gun just as dangerous as anyone else.

Despite the constant stream back and forth about women in combat roles in the US Military there was never really a solid answer. Most of it was just, men were stronger but women were smarter just so they could satisfy everyone. I didn't like the facts that came out either. I mean if you can turn a man's grey matter into house paint at 500 yards then hey welcome to the team. True there were serious lady athletes in the army, I remember of a fellow red headed cadet at West Point that constantly out ran me in our fitness tests. And there were a lot of women that were deadly in their shots and were superb martial artists. But they were VERY far and few in between, and the one thing that always dragged them down was the endurance that you needed to have in the field. Everyone liked to bring up the issue of fraternization too but the answer to that was simple, just reinforce the damn rule.

So frontline was still in the works, the world of spy's however was a different story. It's no secret that men's brains tend to shut down whenever they see a pretty woman but charms also weren't their only weapons. It was their intelligence and conviction to win. Virginia Hall being a prime example as she was designated the most dangerous of all the allied spies by the Gestapo during World War II. Her missing a leg due to a hunting accident have the Nazi's dub her "The Limping Lady" but she was anything but weak. She helped coordinate multiple networks with the French Underground to get information out of France to the British and then joined the US Office of Strategic Services to help set up drop zones for supplies for other spies throughout France. After the war she joined the CIA after it had been formed with her husband in the Special Activities Division. Granted it wasn't that what I knew it was today at that time during the Cold War, but the Green Beret's hadn't been formed yet until 1952. The SAD were the true ultimate elite of the black ops world and deadly in every right.

After coming out of my philosophical train of thought I focused on the fight again. Mildo being the more aggressive striker but Valmet looked like she was holding back despite her blocking all of Mildo's attacks.

"Looks like you haven't lost your touch. Not that I never thought you would."

It was then that I realized that she was going in from her blind spot because of her missing right eye.

"That loss of your eye should put you at a disadvantage in a knife fight but it's not bothering you in the least."

Valmet wasn't letting her get under her skin. She was totally in control of the fight.

"I also got great night vision but I'm still LOSING! DAMN IT!"

She tossed one of her blades at her and it missed and hit the tree behind her. Seizing the moment Mildo took a chance and lunged at her. Valmet simply moved out of the way and planted he knee in Mildo's gut.

 _This fight was over. Looks like she can handle herself pretty well. It does peg the question on how good she really is if she got serious._

"Hard to say this even though I love a good knife fight, your movements have gotten stiff."

Looks like they must do this for fun. Then again I'm traveling with a group of international criminals, so their definition of fun could mean anything.

"I don't get why you carry so many knives, it weighs you down and it makes you clumsy." Really applying salt to the wound now. "Even Damien our new guy said you looked like a walking cutlery set." She then pulled the thrown blade out of the tree

 _Probably shouldn't have said that to everyone. She might come after me next when I'm not looking._

"You deliberately threw this knife over here trying to move the fight back over here. You'd then grab it while my back was turned wouldn't you?"

She then tossed it up into one of the branches and it stuck with ease.

"Hey!"

"What the hell are you whining about? Once the knife leaves your hand it's gone for good. Only and damn fool would hope to get it back."

 _I hope she gets done with her lecture soon. Pollak's guys are still looking for us._

"You may wanna adjust your line of thinking Mildo." She then got up off the ground, the look on her face said she wasn't gonna do anything else so I at least breathed a little easier. "I warn you I am not someone you want to get attached to."

"Oh come on! Your story's as cold as it gets! An elite Finish Rapid Deployment Force soldier for the UN gets betrayed by her own country and stripped of everything? But you then got back on your feet, trained your ass off and came back better than before!"

That hit me out of nowhere. It might have been only the shell version but I got a nasty feeling that Valmet and I share a rather similar past I hoped to God she wasn't just as bad as I am.

"You know I really don't give a shit about you but I will offer some advice. Great expectations lead to great disappointment."

Once again, another strike from out of nowhere. I thought she knew where I was and if she was reading my mind. I thought if I could get into the best of the best I could then make a true difference in the world. Instead I wandered into something twisted and wrong.

"Expectations? I gave up on those a while ago." She paused "People like us learn very quickly not to expect much from this ugly and empty world because we're empty too. Maybe it starts the first time we hold a weapon or kill someone, we then tell ourselves it's to protect our family or our country but it doesn't take long to realize that's bullshit."

 _At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite. The world may be ugly but it's beautiful at the same time. A little thing called free will. It's only bullshit if you decided to make yourself empty and you have only yourself to blame for that. The world, people you've never met, they didn't do that to you. And when you go into battle you don't do it just to protect your country. But you do it to protect the guy next to you, because that person is part of your family. You keep each other safe from harm._

"So no, I don't have great expectations. I just think beating you would make life a little less empty."

"Idiot." I agreed, completely.

"Alright your off the hook for now. But next time your ass is mine!"

She then ran off back to the mill. It was time I showed myself.

"I bet $1000 and a bottle of Red Breast that you'll beat her in half the time this one took."

She turned around quickly with a scowl on her face. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Making sure you two didn't decide to murder each other and actually see if Pollak is following us. But it looks like you handled yourself exceptionally, so I didn't interfere unless one of you was really gonna kill the other."

She grunted in frustration. "I don't need a fucking babysitter!"

"No but you didn't need to go on lecturing knife fighting and arguing philosophy when the real enemy is out there looking for us."

"Are you trying to start a real fight with me!?"

I crossed my arms and calmed my voice.

"I'm trying my best to do my job by making sure my teammates stay safe and also I know this is the first time both of us have actually had any type of real conversation. So I only wanted to say that it's good that you can handle yourself. I'm not trying to move in and be the dominant alpha of the crew. Cause I already know for a fact alpha's collide, they don't connect. And I don't want to do any collision."

She at least relaxed a bit. "How long were you watching us?"

"Long enough to know not to get into a philosophical debate with a rank amateur knife fighter like that English girl."

She continued to stare at me more annoyed that anything else this time.

"And besides we here to make sure Koko gets away safe too. Right?"

"Right." At least she stared at me with acknowledging a fact.

But then both of us picked up the distinct sound of a lot of soft moving footsteps.

"Hear that?"

"Yep."

"Double time it. You call Koko. She still thinks I'm there."

"She will kick your ass when she finds out you went after us."

"She'll get over it."

 **1930 Hours**

Back at the mill she let everyone know. I managed to sneak in with her not knowing I was gone.

"Ok here's the plan we'll see what were up against and then establish an escape route. Depending on what we're up against we may be able to stop them. I'll let you owe me one this time Currie."

"Brave and generous as always, thank you Koko."

Once we got outside we formed a squad line. I don't know what the hell she was planning but if it was a fight I was ready for it. But then come to think of it, I hadn't really done something in the last two days despite all I've seen.

"There aren't that many but were surrounded." Lehm said.

"Ok everyone listen up…LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!"

 _The fuck!?_

"Remove your clips and sling them!"

I turned to Lutz. "You have any idea what the hell she's doing?"

"Just listen bro." He said grinning wide.

"Pollak's men! You don't want us! The ones who killed your pals are in that mill!"

 _Totally played Currie for a sucker._

I could only imagine what he was thinking as Pollack's men came to the mill. They then let us get safely away from the mill when the fire fight broke out. Their platoon leader came to Koko. It was the same guy we met when the Hind's flew over us.

"We'll be here for a while. I also wouldn't be to surprised if someone were to sneak by us and head south towards the Georgian border. This kind of thing only happens once, lucky girl."

We then made a beeline back to our convoy. Koko actually in the lead.

"Step lively everyone I want out of this killing field!"

It then finally hit me. We were done, we were out of the field, and out of danger. I had no other excuse but to burst out laughing as if I was delirious, and I was loving it!

"Something amusing Damien?" Lehm asked.

"This is the first time I've been through a battlefield without even shooting my gun! That's never happened to me before! I don't know how else to react!"

Koko looked back "Sorry Damien! Would it make you feel better if I let you shoot a whole bunch next time?"

"Let's just see if anyone shoots at us first! Deal!?"

"Deal!" That got a laugh out of everyone else

R jogged up behind me "Careful Damien, you'll find out real quick that she's only half joking! She can't help it! She's an arms dealer!"

 **May 8** **th** **2010 0930 Hours**

 **Tblisi International Airport, Tblisi, Georgia**

As we were waiting for our plane I caught the news while sipping my morning coffee. Turns out the skirmish near the pipe line had stopped. Pollak must have been feeling like hammered shit right now since he couldn't use his brand new anti-aircraft missiles. He must be flat broke too and will have to sell them to try and get some of his money back. But at least he'll be preoccupied with that long enough that we can get out of Georgia. I still couldn't shake the fact I left a warzone without getting shot at and returning fire. I couldn't make that shit up if I tried. I did my best not to laugh and make a mess of myself before we got on the plane. Valmet looked over to me.

"What's so funny?"

"Just still thinking about last night is all. And the fact I'll get a nap of the plane back home."

I then glanced over to several collapsing bodies near the ticket exchange. Currie and his crew managed to get away.

"And finding it funny on how exhausted those three look."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Full Metal Orchestra**

 **May 16** **th** **2010 1200 Hours**

 **The Arabian Sea**

 _Fruition._ That was the name of my new home, if a home weighed over 100,000 tons and full of military hardware from all over the world. It was Koko's personal cargo ship where she kept her merchandise ready to be sold to whoever wanted to buy from her. If she needed something else she would just sail to whichever port had HCLI containers stashed at the docks and load them up. Her father, Floyd, being a big shipping tycoon meant HCLI's business had quite a reach. I also knew that the "shipping" company was just a front for what it really did behind the scenes. Koko and her brother Kasper had different area's they were in charge of and I was glad he was on the other side of the planet. But I still had trouble wrapping my head around a woman just a few years younger than me managed shipping weapons across two continents. Then again, being on the move constantly made sense, it was harder for authorities to track you and the ocean was a big place to hide.

Below decks it had been further modified to make it more of a livable place. There was a full kitchen, I had to cook again since the guys were begging me since Prague, it was eggs benedict for breakfast this morning. A full living room with a couch, recliners, and a carpet floor. With a 60 inch flat screen with satellite tv and that was all. None of us were video game players, we lived an adrenaline filled life as it is. There was even a makeshift spa where you could sit in massage chairs or even soak in a hot tub. In an adjoining larger room it was full of books as well. Along with everything else that should be on this ship specifically, armory, offices, computer rooms, etc. The cabins were only slightly larger than normal ones but I didn't mind. I didn't make things too homey since I had lived in five different state's by the time I was sixteen. This wouldn't be any different.

But the one that was really my favorite, the gym, it had everything I needed and more. After running around Europe for over a month, I took the time we had at sea to keep myself maintained. I found my own personal regiment rather fierce, it had to be considering all the training I went through as a Green Beret. But every now and then when the other guys were with me they were usually laughing at me whenever I started using the heavier weights. They thought I couldn't hear them through my iPod but I normally shut it off to focus more. Lutz said my face looked like I got kicked in the balls every time I got serious on the last rep. And Mao said that I'd better not to try and deadlift the ship. I didn't mind though, they all maintained themselves at peak physical condition. Koko left me alone cause she knew I was always active, but she'd then scold any of the guys who were laying around too much. Ugo surprised the hell out of me the most cause I thought from his size and shape he was just stocky. Yesterday when we were done he went to change his shirt and I saw he was as cut as I was. He stayed on top as the big man of the crew, but from what Koko told me he wasn't the real muscle, he was the top driver.

Today was leg day and after finishing my final squat, it was time for my run. The sun was high and the sky was clear that meant I could get a good tan, eight times around the containers from bow to stern. As I was ready to take off I glanced at my reflection in one of the windows and then focused on my upper right arm. My second tattoo, a golden skull with fangs and a claymore sword driven through it. With silver crossed arrows and black wings behind it.

 _I really gotta get rid of this thing. It's too depressing._

After my final lap, I sat down on the deck a little harder than I should. I over did it. I then heard the port hatch opening, out stepped R and Ugo with their rifles. Target practice again, everyone was trying not to stay bored after being at sea for four days.

"I'm actually amazed you haven't been sunburned since you're out here with your shirt off all the time." R said trying to get a rise out of me.

"Skin's too thick on me the sun won't work." I turned around to grab my shirt off the life preserver.

"Non Timebo Mala Quoniam Fortitudo Mea Superare Queunt." Ugo said from reading the Latin scrolls on my back. "Fear No Evil For None Can Rival My Strength." He translated.

My first tattoo, I figured if I got one I go big or not at all. It was a large ornate Celtic Cross which covered most of my back. Half of my family lineage being Irish and the other half Hungarian. Not surprising he understood what it said, both men were Italian by heritage so it was easy to translate. But unlike R, Ugo had been from the Mafia.

"That supposed to mean something special?" He asked.

"An artistic and clever mix of Psalm 23:4 and 27:1 while making it known that the Lord has my back."

"Didn't know you were Catholic." R chimed in.

"I'm not. I've read the Bible but I only talk to Him if I must. Plus I never went to any kind of church. I'm one of those guys that make their own destiny."

 _Regardless of that I'm not even worthy to even ask for His forgiveness._

"Well are you finally gonna tell us what the one on your right arm means?"

"Yeah you don't seem like the kind of guy who would get anything generic." Ugo added.

 _Might as well tell them if I want them to get off my ass._

"It's a representation of the US Army's 1st Special Forces Group. The color's for its flash are gold with a black outline. Naturally the sword and arrows represent the special forces insignia. The skull indicates the flash and the black wings represent not only its outline but Airborne as well."

"I thought you were part of the 3rd Group?" R asked.

"I was. I got this when I made Captain in honor of my father just before I went to Afghanistan. He belonged to the 1st Group."

The two knew then not to ask anything else. I made it clear that certain things about me were sensitive subjects, I didn't talk to anyone unless work was involved.

"So how much longer till we get where we're going?" I asked

"Maintaining this speed we should reach the Gulf of Oman in two days." R said.

 _Mean's three different places. UAE, Oman, or Qatar._

"Right."

"Wanna come shoot with us?"

"Nah, I'm hungry. I'm gonna clean up and then take a nap." I walked through the hatch and shut it.

"Hey R do you have any idea what his problem is? I mean he says he's gonna be a team player but it's gonna be two months soon and the only time he even talks to us at all is when we're in the field or we got work. I only know what he does and likes, not who he is."

He sighed. "The little lady said unless he brings it up to not press the issue. Especially of how he ended in our line of work. His resume is sporadic too, I don't who the real him is." They began walking to the ships stern. "I remember a job he took in Syria when he was assigned to protect the son of a Hamas member and single handedly took out 18 men from a rival faction who wanted to kidnap him for some sort of blackmail."

"Well what's his opposite side?"

"When he then was recommended for a job in France by two brothers of a crime family who wanted their own father killed so they could get their inheritance."

"You mean he…?"

"Surprising no. But he did do something kinda worse."

"Worse?"

"Yeah he killed the older brother who was more insistent on Damien doing the job and sent his head in a box to the younger brother full of the money they paid him to do the job. A letter was inside simply saying, "This is a Warning"."

Ugo's face paled. "Fuck man. Why the hell is he here with us then?"

"Lehm said he told him that he did have a reason for being with us. He said that Damien told Koko what he needed and she said she help."

"She agreed?"

"She walks along the grey path and goes nowhere else. You've known her almost as long as I have."

 **May 19** **th** **2010 1100 Hours**

 **Dubai, United Arab Enmities, The Rose Tower, Koko's Suite**

I figured since we made port in Dubai yesterday I hoped to do a little spending. With all the cash Koko was paying me the only things I actually bought was food. But unfortunately I got hit with something everyone hate's, paperwork. Most of it was just running the numbers from deals to see how well our profits were turning out and making sure no one was skimming on prices. That essentially was an criminal accountants death sentence if his boss found out he was stealing from him. But at least I was almost done and Tojo was helping me, I found out his first name was Akihiko. So I frequently called him Aki to bust his chops, cause it was also a girl's name in Japanese.

I saw Koko looking at her laptop like she was memorizing something important. "What you looking at?"

"These are a list of hitmen."

"Something I need to know about?"

"Calm down Damien this is routine. HCLI sends these to us all the time about potential threats in the area."

I often wondered how far and deep her father's company reached. They must have had people working around the clock.

"But we shouldn't have any problems since the police here tend to keep people in line quite well."

It wasn't any secret that the Dubai Police Department were the furthest ahead of any other police group in the Arabic world. The prided themselves on not only the law but human rights and made sure all of their officers were well educated.

"And I have my minions along to protect me."

"Just don't expect me sound like Igor and say "Yes master."."

It got a laugh out of her. She liked to set out bait for me and then let me grab it. I leaned over and looked at the screen.

"Orchestra? Who are they?"

"Seven of the original members are dead but the leader just picked up a new recruit."

"Guy must be a very shitty leader if they're all dead and he was forced to bring in a kid. A teenage girl even. Hey Aki baby, get a load these clowns."

"Just call me Tojo you ass."

I smiled as Koko continued. "In its prime Orchestra was a serious threat, they once shot 20,000 rounds at a police squad in France."

 _Their prime couldn't have lasted long if they sprayed that much lead. I wondered if they actually hit any of those cops._

"Are these guys after you?"

"Of course. I got way more enemies that you do. I've got so many…"

She said in unison with Tojo. "We'd make a killing if they were our clients!" And then burst out laughing.

Lutz walked into the room. "What's going on I thought you guys were working?"

"Well you're not helping Lutz. And the rest of you are you all just gonna spend the day off being lazy? Get out and do something that's an order!"

"Kaaaay." The classic monotone acknowledgment.

Valmet chimed in "You bored? Let's do some shopping!"

"Well I did want to show Damien around the city."

I saw Valmet's reaction of frustration. Our little rivalry she invented in her head on being Koko's favorite alpha hadn't thawed.

"BUT NO WORK COMES BEFORE PLAY! CONTINUE IGOR!"

 _Me and my big mouth. I gotta find a way outta here. If I go through any more numbers I'm gonna have a seizure._

"Sorry to you too Tojo but he's gonna need help. I'll bring you back some beer ok?"

"Fine with me, stay safe."

"Caio everyone."

I let ten minutes pass, just long enough for Koko and Valmet to get out of the building. I wasn't in school anymore, I was gonna go take in the sights.

 _God I hope he buys this._

"I gotta take a shit. I'll just work with this stuff on the can."

"Just wash your hands when you're done."

I closed the door to the bathroom. And took one of the account forms and wrote on the back.

 _"_ _Be a sweetheart and finish those numbers Aki baby."_

Moving ever so silently without my shoes on I snuck out of the bathroom, moved to the hallway, and silently closed the door. Then bolted down the hallway to the elevator.

"You can yell at me later Koko."

 **1245 Hours**

 **Downtown Dubai**

As one of the major central business hubs of the Middle East, Dubai was always bustling. Mostly due to a Western style business model it prides mostly on tourism, finance, and obviously real estate. Since some of the tallest buildings in the world were located here, especially the Burj Khalifa that was completed last year. Granted it came during a rather bad time with a plunge in the property market, the city was actually pulling itself out of its funk. But I sure as hell didn't want to think about numbers right now, I was hungry and I wanted to get me a Omega watch. The sun was bright out today, glad I still had my Oakley's in my pocket or else I would have to buy another pair of shades too. But I left my phone in my room, Tojo would have noticed me.

 _Might as well just grab a lamb kebab and keep walking, time to put the Arabic to use._

People from all over the world came here. Even though I couldn't understand all of them I did pick up on the different dialects of Arabic, as well as French, German, Australian English, and even Italian. He was so "touristy" it was satirical and the Hawaiian shirt didn't help either. His lady friend though was even weirder, with a strange hat and a rather unkempt business dress like a lazy secretary she stood out more than I did. Naturally she looked my way, I just waved, hoped that was the end of that, and continued down the street to the mall.

 _Girl's nowadays can really manipulate their age on how they present themselves but I seriously doubt she's barely out of high school. Wait a second…_

My thoughts came racing back to Koko's laptop this Orchestra guy had only brought in one new member. A teenage girl looking very similar to the one I just saw.

"OH FUCK!" I bolted off running.

I lost track of them both buy the time I got to the outdoor mall. They were definitely looking for Koko she had to be here.

 _Too many people. Second floor. Vantage point._

I speeded up the stairs but it looks like they already had the drop on her as I heard shouting from below the catwalk in front of me, I didn't slow down. Then I heard Valmet shout "GUN!"

 _All or nothing. I hope she's below me._

I leapt off the second floor onto an umbrella stand below me concealing her from the shooters fire.

 _That hurt more than I though._

"Koko!" Valmet shouted.

"I got her Val! Just shoot them!"

Valmet provided covering fire as I moved Koko to more solid cover. People were panicking trying to get out of the mall but it looks the two Orchestra members didn't care what they were shooting at.

Hawaiian shirt then shouted out "Hey Chinatsu we reached the crescendo yet or just the refrain?"

 _This fuck wad definitely has a screw loose._

"What's wrong arms dealer? Can't play your symphony!?"

Behind a concrete flower bed I was on top of Koko, once again even during a shootout pulling weird shit outta nowhere.

"My hero." As she put both hands on my face.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I swatted her hands away.

"I want to show you how great you acted. Perfect timing."

That constant smile she had was now starting to freak me out. The two assassins were still putting suppression fire on both me and Valmet. We couldn't shoot back.

"Ok that's it! I wanna know now! Why is it every time shit flies in outta nowhere you keep smiling?! It's kinda creepy!"

She pulled me down close to her. "You need to stay a little lower you ARE a rather large target and I'm not as screwed up as you think I am. I've been shot at so much I've stopped counting."

For her to say that was one thing but sometimes the obvious trumped words. In war soldiers naturally react to something and let their training kick in but smiling under conditions where death is literally staring you in face and you start behaving unnaturally. You then become a threat not only to yourself but others around you.

"Either I'll get shot or I won't." She continued "I can't control what happens, but I can control the situation."

"No! That's my job! And here's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna get you and Valmet outta here and shoot those two assholes. Or shoot those two assholes and get you and Valmet outta here. Either way is FINE!"

I opened fire as Hawaiian shirt was reloading.

"Next flower bed, GO! Val! Follow us!" I went forward with her to my left shielding her.

"Besides weapons are my livelihood and I'd be a pretty piss poor merchant if I was afraid of my own products."

The lady did like to act high and mighty during a fight. I'd deal with that later but then came a sigh of relief with the distinct whine of police sirens.

 _Perfect._

After hearing the police shouting at them to halt in Arabic it was quickly drowned out by a distinct _THWUMP_ and then an explosion.

 _Ok not so perfect._

"Weapons aside how do feel about the idea that they now have fire superiority?"

"Same way as you do with your sarcasm."

The shootout was starting to become more intense but fortunately Orchestra's fire had shifted from us to the police.

"Koko! You alright!?"

"Valmet! Get over here!"

Orchestra was now upping their ante again as Hawaiian Shirt pulled out an AK-47. And living up to my expectations started spraying lead. I ducked back behind the flower bed but I heard a scream, Valmet had been hit in the leg.

"Valmet!" Koko screamed with concern.

I pulled out my second .45. "Sprint to us! I'll cover you!"

I started sending slugs their way but now they upped their defense as they had a shield from one of the fallen police officers. But Valmet had made it to us.

 _Of all the times I didn't bring my phone, God I'm a fucking idiot! Lehm and the guys could have been here by now. I can't shoot at them all day!_

Koko went to her "How bad is it?"

"Sorry I don't think I'm gonna be much help." She winced in pain.

"Don't worry the other's will be here."

 _I'm about ready to run outta bullets. When I do they're gonna rush us, and it'll be over._

 _…_

 _Ahh fuck it. It's not like my life made any real turn arounds in the last month and a half. Sure they were decent and fun to get along with but I doubt they would have seen me in the same light if I told the truth about who I really was. Ironic though, I set out with idea to make other's see the world better and I end up being part of the problem. It would be funny though with them knowing a nightmare died protecting them._

"Sophia."

I used Valmet's real name and it got her attention rather quickly.

"Save you're shots. Just don't let them get near Koko."

 _It's not that far I can cover that distance fast. But I gotta time it right when they reload. That shield won't do much good against a two hundred eighty pound drop kick and a point blank shot._

The distinct sound a clip emptying a gun. That was the signal.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Koko said with tremendous concern.

I didn't answer as I leapt over the flower bed both pistols out and began firing moderately one at a time. Seven in the chamber, one in the pipe, sixteen shots for both, all I needed was one for each of them.

 _Don't think, just rely on that rage, on what made you who you really are._

Orchestra obviously wasn't scared at the monster coming right at them.

"Come on you big son of a bitch! Bring it!"

 _Kill. Kill! KILL!_

Orchestra then had their next clip loaded and racked the bolt back.

"RAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Then in this already mad adventure of mine a rappel rope with a carabiner on the end looped around my leg and started dragging me to the pillars into a clothing store.

 _Ok seriously what the fuck?_

At the same time the girl with Orchestra lifted the Kalashnikov up in the air.

"No wait!"

"Girl! What the hell are you doing? I had him!"

"Don't kill him, he's cute."

I actually heard that, the girl had insane taste. But what was more insane was who pulled me in, Lehm.

"Wow I caught myself a-OOF!"

I didn't let him finish as I planted my foot in his face so hard it knocked out the cigarette in his mouth and split his lip open. I was beyond furious.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING LEHM! I HAD THE BASTARD!"

"Calm down. First time I've seen you lose your temper like that and honestly I didn't like it." As usual calm and collected as he wiped the blood off his lip.

"Well file a fucking complaint in the suggestion box! Don't for a second even think I wouldn't pull something like that without thinking it through. I did know the risks."

"I know you've pulled off some crazy stunts but I know for a fact that utter suicide is not part of your repertoire. Never lose your cool like that again."

I didn't bother answering. It was a fifty fifty chance and if I died. There was nothing between Orchestra and the girls.

"Pissed?"

"Yes you old fart."

"Fine by me but you're not the only one. I fucking hate the all or nothing reckless way."

"Do not put me in the same camp as some cocky greenhorn."

"I mean it. This crew doesn't do fights to the death. We only engage when it's strictly business. Rules. Of. Engagement. You had to have remembered that. And whatever the hell happened in your past, let it go. Whoever that person was, he's no longer the one in front of me."

 _That's it. I didn't want it to be this soon but now I'm angry._

"Alright lets pause. Once we get out of this, I'm going to tell you why I ended up going AWOL in Afghanistan and anything else you wanna know. Then after that try and say that last sentence again. Just don't tell anyone, I'll tell them myself. But for now let's just focus on helping Koko and Valmet." I held out my hand. "Deal?"

He lit up another cigarette and took it still unshaken and took it "Deal."

A high powered rifle shot pierced through our conversation, police reinforcements must have arrived and we both took cover behind the pillars.

"Hey don't get me wrong." Lehm said. "I'm not trying be the wise veteran over you ok? We've both seen our fair share of bad shit. I'm willing to listen."

Orchestra was then firing on the police snipers.

Koko and Valmet made a break for us while orchestra was distracted.

"Guys? What now?"

Lehm took off his headset. "Here take this, Tojo will give you directions on where you need to go and keep you guys covered. Can you get Koko somewhere safe?"

"Done. Just give me some fresh clips. You gonna have enough ammo?"

"I got something a little special for our musical assassins."

As he handed me his M1911A1 clips he pulled out something more updated, an H&K Mark 23 with a silencer.

"Ok Solid Snake just remember if you run away they won't stop chasing you."

We both smiled, he got the reference.

"Koko take my hand and don't let go." I looked at her with a plea to trust me.

"Of course, let's go."

We ran and Lehm kept them occupied.

 **1308 Hours**

We ran towards the cost and I called in, "Who's on the net?"

"Damien? It's Tojo."

 _Not a coincidence._

"Looks like ditching you paid off. I got Koko and we're running along the coast, give us directions."

"We got you on satellite just keep going. Lutz and Wiley are trying to set up a perch and Ugo is driving with the rest of the crew to intercept Orchestra, they got away from Lehm."

"Got it, I'll keep you posted. Out."

Koko spoke up "Looks like the rumors were right about those guys. They'll shoot the shit out of anything just to get their target."

"They're mad killers that REALLY like to piss metal Koko! This is why I really fucking hate the life I live right now! That there are full scale psycho's like them loose in the world, people know where there at but they don't do anything. They hide behind so many rules that they're afraid to do what's right! And you supplying guns to maniac's like that means your part of the problem too!"

I heard that distinct chuckle from her again.

"Now what?"

"I'm just glad you articulate what you feel. I think I'd like sharing these discussions with you. Of course there are a few arguments I'd like to make but circumstance does not allow that right now."

 _Once again. Another long day._


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: No Encore**

 **May 19** **th** **2010 1320 Hours**

 **Dubai, United Arab Enmities, The Coast**

I could have gone faster but even I picked up Koko and put her on my shoulder I would have exhausted myself. Either way we couldn't just get away from Orchestra on foot.

"Christ! Where the hell's Ugo!?"

Suddenly I got my wish as I heard an engine coming up behind us fast, it was Ugo's Armored Lexus RX. But behind them was a red Ford pick-up, Orchestras leader in the back with a 240B LMG. Ugo got in front of us as a shield as he opened fire. Mao and R popped out of the windows to give us cover.

"R! Let us in!"

"We can't stop we'll be sitting ducks!"

Mao turned "Just keep running, we'll handle them!"

The shooting continued and as I expected Orchestra's aim was as piss poor as back at the mall. Then they sped off in front of us continuing to fire but then turned around two intersections ahead of us. They wanted to take us head on.

"Good God in Heaven!"

I looked up at Mao. His face said it all, he must have seen whatever the hell Orchestra was planning to use.

"Koko! Damien! They got a Browning .50 caliber machine gun in the back."

"Are they crazy!?" Koko shouted

"You already know the answer to that question!" I snapped.

With over 75 years in service, great dexterity, and rounds that can literally blow people in half or hit you at over two thousand yards. The M2 is both loved and feared by infantry all over the world and we were about to get on its bad side. Ugo's car wasn't gonna be able to take that kind of punishment. The red pick-up came right toward us.

"Mao, concentrate your fire on the engine block!" R shouted.

"Got it!"

They lit the truck up but it kept coming.

 _Can't stay here, can't run to the intersection, looks like we swim._

I grabbed Koko around the waist and jumped off the top sidewalk into the sea just as the big rounds of the M2 went off. The noise was deafening.

After the splash I hand signaled underwater to Koko to follow me and stay low, she nodded. I could see the hits in the water from where the .50 cal was going off but it didn't matter. Unlike the movies, bullets can't go through water. We surfaced, climbed to the sea sidewalk, and made toward the steps. I saw Ugo's car standing upright, he must have hit that retaining pillar hard.

 _They better be alright._

I gently poked my head up to get a look at the street but I saw Orchestra fire a burst and I pulled my head down.

"Fuck! Koko don't move!"

He was standing across the street next to a building without cover and I heard him shout "That must mean that bitch is still alive too!"

I didn't give him a chance and I fired off my clip. Cursing myself because I only had two more and he probably had shitloads. But then I heard the girl speak.

"Maestro we gotta scrub this, lets just try again later. Something about this doesn't feel right!"

 _Stick yourself out you trigger happy douchebag._

"Don't let weird superstation get to you. Screw this I'll do it myself!"

 _I won't miss at this range, time to close the curtain on your show._

"Maestro!"

He stepped out but before I could fire his chest bursted open and blood sprayed everywhere. During that time I heard a single shot from a great distance. Didn't need to guess who our guardian angels were. Maestro fell to his knees and then his head whiplashed back. One down, one to go.

As the girl started to scream, Koko spoke.

"Gap between the shot and the target indicates that the distance fired was over 900 meters away most likely using a .338 Lapua Magnum round. It was Lutz's shot."

 _Awesome shot man. I must do a shooting contest with him. Gotta keep the practice up._

"Now lets see if Chinatstu enters his line of sight."

"No! No this can't be real!" The girl was freaking out, my guess was no. "You gave me a new life Maestro! You can't leave me now! You can't!"

It was obvious that Orchestra's newest and probably last recruit hadn't been on the receiving end of failure or seeing someone they know die. But this Maestro guy must have took her in because she was as twisted as he was. The girls head was anything but stable as she continued to curse at us.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

She stumbled forward sticking herself out slightly in front of the building. Lutz had the shot but I didn't hear any fire. She tripped forward and fell on the ground then I heard the shot but it was aimed at the LMG. She grabbed a pistol off the ground and then bolted back behind the building. I then heard more fire. Lehm and Tojo had moved in behind her on the other side of the street. But she was quicker that she looked, and disappeared into an alley. It was over, I sat down on the steps with my head against the wall and sighed deeply.

"What the hell? That girl."

"Hmm?" I looked up.

"She wasn't wearing any panties."

The look on Koko's face was legit and I never saw her like this until now, she almost didn't believe what she saw. But that train of thought quickly vanished as I heard sirens in the intersection behind us and in front of a police car was a red sedan.

 _Calvary always comes in late. Wonder if Koko can pull the strings on these guys._

A man in his mid-thirties exited the sedan but he wasn't Arab.

"Afternoon! Don't put up a fight, there's been enough of that for today."

 _He's an American?_

"Koko Hekmatyar, we caught you red handed."

"Caught me doing what? Getting shot at?"

 _Shit. He's definitely working for one of the alphabet agencies but I should be glad he thinks I'm just one of her thugs._

"Don't try and play innocent. I saw the whole ordeal."

"You may have the police here, but you however are anything but a cop. Who the hell are you?"

"No one. Just a citizen making a citizens arrest. Nothing more."

I stood up. "Ok asshole what's your play?"

"Do I look like I'm playing a game?" He then answered with a foot to my face. I lost my balance and fell back into the ocean.

 _Stupid son of a…_

One pretty cool thing about Dubai was that the water wasn't just very clear around the beaches. I saw Koko raise her fist up in the air.

 _Fall back. I just hope the guys put a tail on that cocky ass wipe._

After swimming a few meters under water I hopped back up on the sidewalk. The radio Lehm gave me was completely waterlogged so I threw it on the ground and starting making my way back to the hotel but then I heard behind me.

"Hal 'ant wahid min alrrijal Koko?"

( _Are you one of Koko's men?)_

"Law ana?"

 _(If I am?)_

"La daei lildhdhieri, waqal almuddakhan litahsil."

 _(Don't panic, the smoker said to get you.)_

"Naqdir dhalik. 'ana la aftarid ya rifaq yakun taghyiraan aljaf lilmlabis?"

 _(Appreciate it. I don't suppose you guys have a dry change of clothes?)_

 **1540 Hours**

 **Dubai Police HQ**

I didn't know for sure but I now knew it was true, Koko's company had a far and deep reach. It made me question why the world let bad people get away with shit all the time. I slipped the officers a few extra bucks to find out where she was cause since the crew was locked in the hotel I pleaded just to let her have one person looking out for her. I'm anything but heroic but I had a job to do. I was a little annoyed that the only dry things they could get for a guy my size was a white t-shirt and track pants. I decided to wait outside the police station, cause the cops said she'd be in and out as fast as possible providing that US Agent was with them didn't cause any more hassles. I hoped to hell he wasn't who I thought he was. But it looks like he wanted to cause trouble the whole way through as I heard him as the doors to the police station opened.

"I'll tear you apart limb from limb!"

"Get in line. You're not the first person who's said that to me today."

I saw blood coming from her nose. Whoever this guy was he wanted Koko bad.

Her face remained expressionless but her eyes were widened almost with fear. She must have figured out that she was alone. That girl from Orchestra was still out there.

 _Damn! Wind picked up all of a sudden. Ok, better get her out of that trance._

"You gonna stand there or are we gonna go?"

"Hey you!"

"Yeah yeah. What happened to your nose?"

"That asshole from before, nothing to worry about. How are you here? I thought the crew was locked up back in the hotel?"

"I gave them the gift of the color green and they sent me here. Rather generous aren't I."

"A regular Bill Gates." She took my left arm. "Shall we go?"

"How much longer until the rest of the guys are released?"

"The police will handle them but it's gonna take a few hours."

"You did say you'd show me around the city, and I need a new change of wardrobe. Is it a date?"

"It's a date. Onward Captain!"

 **1920 Hours**

It seemed like life had returned to normal in Dubai since Orchestra's awful performance earlier this afternoon. But I preferred spending the evening in jeans and plain shirt instead of the $3,000 John Philips Koko bought for me, I never liked suits. But I did get the Omega I wanted adding another $7,000 made me feel a little guilty on how well Koko was treating me but she didn't seem to care about the money. But raking in tens of millions of dollars every month by selling guns and hi tech weapons by herself meant money was never an issue. As we walked down the street from the French restaurant we just finished, the city lights of Dubai reflected off the sea like a mirror.

"You're nicer than you give yourself credit for you know? You came down to the station to look out for me."

"It's my job. And don't let my persona fool you. Nice guys don't cause mayhem or kill lots of people."

"That's not 100% true, these days even deeply faithful people carry guns. Preaching God's love to the sound of gunfire, and in the end it's all about what you believe in and what makes you pull that trigger."

"I hope you're not referring to all those assholes that have the United States stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan. They use God to cover up their own damn hatred and brainwash the locals into thinking we're the root of all evil."

"They still have a belief though. And they believe that to be true."

"They have a choice though as well, from what I saw, read, and heard. They just don't wanna make it."

"Well picture this instead. Imagine whenever you fight or when you shoot you're not firing bullets or throwing punches. But your conviction and determination to do what is right."

 _I still didn't even know what I did WAS right._

"That's what makes you so different from any other soldier I've ever met, employee, buyer, or otherwise."

As we continued to walk she started poking my back as if she was playfully seeing that I liked something.

"It really does confuse me. You said you wanted to make a difference in the world by joining the army and stopping people like me. But then when you go do what you knew was right and then think you just blackened your soul and are desperately trying to right your wrongs. You also said to me that you never get close to people because they always end up hating you but you also have a fantastic sense of humor and you came to get me because you were concerned for me. I thought you hated people like me."

 _Her mind ticks faster than anyone I've ever met. I really can't answer that yet because I don't have one. Better just be honest._

"You're actually ok. I don't hate you if that's what you think."

"Aww how sweet!" She rubbed her head against my arm. "But at the end of the day I'm just another dealer. It's stupid to think otherwise."

"I will also be honest about you and the rest of the crew. You're not hypocrites, them, liars, and elitists are the only real people I hate it the world."

"Hmm, looks like I don't need to tell you the world is not a kind place."

"It's not about how hard you get hit but how hard you get hit and keep on going."

She chuckled. "Ok Stallone. Well skip that part."

 _Looks like she's going into one of her lectures again._

"The UN has a list put together called The Millennium Development Goals. 189 countries working together to end hunger, achieve universal education, promote gender equality, reduce child morality, improve maternal health, fight AIDS, sustain the environment, and make a global partnership for development. All to be done by 2015."

 _I hope this doesn't turn into a political debate. She'll lose badly to me on that. While well intended it's just a disguised idea to give more power to a defunct 20_ _th_ _Century relic._

"Consider goals two and three, even combined it would be far less then what the world spends each year on weapons. Can you believe that? People want to spend more on ending lives than helping them."

"Yes I do. It's all about maintaining their power. I only gave up on my _government_ not my people or my country. But from your perspective that's good for business isn't it?"

"And I should be happy my goods sell so well? You may be right but as an arms dealer I see things in the world from a different perspective. Same way you said you believe in your country and not your government."

"Well then I should tell you that you are in the right from seeing things from different perspectives."

"Ok another question, what's the largest group of people that own guns?"

 _No brainer._

"Average everyday civilians. Military may get the bigger stuff but it's all too often I look up that civilians get access to better more quality products that regular soldiers do."

"Ok we'll skip that one too. But let me say this, nobody in the world can hold himself separately from violence."

"Good point, human beings have the unfortunate habit of choosing great violence over great compassion."

"You know Damien. I really don't want you or any of the others to die. You all are more precious to me than anything else."

"Then do us all a favor and do two things. Stop pissing off so many people and stay away from assassins. Cause like it or not were mortal, all it's gonna take is one well-placed bullet."

She started laughing. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

 **May 22** **nd** **2010 2300 Hours**

 **Dubai, The Rose Tower, Koko's Suite**

A few days had passed and we managed to not run into any trouble. But we kept our guard up while still having a little bit of fun. I bought a camera on our second much less gun fight filled day and took a few pictures. Since most of the places I've been to the last two years weren't really photo worthy I never took any but I'd never been to Dubai before so I didn't want to miss the chance. The best one I took was when me, Lutz, and Tojo took a risky one from leaning over the railing on top of the Burj Khalifa and used the rooftops of the city as the background like we were falling. The shootout was unable to be hid so the Dubai police gave a report to the media that it was rival gangs going a little bit too crazy. And speaking of crazy, that Chinatsu girl was still running around out there. I took the M320 off of my carbine and kept it close. Once again everyone gave me a crazed look but I wasn't gonna take the chance of being hit with fire superiority again unless she just rolled around the corner with a tank. I was on roof patrol tonight, Lehm and Lutz were keeping me covered from the opposite office building.

"Damien you read me?"

"I hear you Lehm. What's up?"

"We got a climber. Two floors below you west side."

"The girl?"

"Yep."

Koko then came on the net.

"Guys it's me. Don't do anything yet wait till I get up there."

 _Now what's she planning? Screw it, I'm too tired to care, I'll let her have this one._

"Understood."

After a few minutes I saw her jump over the railing.

"Stop right there! Point that gun at me and your dead."

Koko was above her.

"I have no idea which direction your sniper's in. I yield."

 _He ain't the only one with eyes one you, you crazy brat._

Koko then leapt off the overhang and kicked the gun away.

"You think this was some type of duel? Wrong, this was always a game of chance. I wagered until we were about ready to leave the city and I was right."

 _She'd make a killing in Las Vegas._

"But I'm glad you showed up when you did, cause I wanted to talk to you."

"Huh?"

"Chinatsu…seriously what is up with the no panties thing?"

 _And…my brain stopped. Don't tell me I walked in circles up here for two hours just so you could ask that Koko!_

"You bitch why are your screwing with me!?"

"No I'm serious, answer me that and I'll answer what you asked me earlier on why I stay in this business. Even though it will probably kill me in the end"

 _Must have been that shouting I heard before I jumped off the second floor in the mall. Still, what's Koko getting at?_

"Ugh fine. It was during the first job I had with Orchestra. We had to cross a river to get to the targets house and walking around in wet underwear felt awful so I took them off. During the fight my aim was better than normal. Maestro was proud that I took out more guys that he did."

She burst out laughing. "Awesome story! What about now?"

"Yes I'm fucking wearing some!"

 _Once again I've fallen into a sitcom._

"Ok you deserve to know my answer and I'll be honest."

She cupped the mike with her hand and leaned in close. I couldn't hear what they were saying but Chinatsu's response came as one of calm shock.

"You are one frightening woman."

"Your correct, but I do find you interesting. You could join MY crew. Interested?"

The answer came hard and fast.

"No way. I gave it three days and I'll never forgive you."

She then held up a crucifix. It must have belonged to Maestro.

"I am Orchestra, I am an artist and when I play it is a symphony of death. I will never work for someone like you!"

She then reached for behind her waist. I knew Lehm had eyes on her but I fired the first shot at her gun and he went for her chest. She fell to her knees slowly but Koko walked forward a caught her preventing her from falling forward and laid her gently on the ground. That's when I saw it after Koko stood back up a cold and emotionless face. The same one I had that night in Afghanistan before I started my rampage. Before the memories came back I heard Chinatsu speak, she was still alive.

"I never knew the sky was so pretty. I never knew because I was always looking at the ground."

She looked up to Koko, tears in her eyes.

"She's a monster." And said nothing else.

Koko kneeled down and placed the crucifix in her hands and shut her eyes. I'm surprised she had so courtesy for someone that was about to kill her. I walked to the roof door, no need to be up here anymore. I heard Koko speaking as I walked away with her phone at her ear.

"Sorry kid, but if it means anything you did ruin my vacation. Hey Chief I know it's late but I wanted to let you know we got the other Orchestra member. Sure, what would you like? Sniper instructor? I got someone you might like."


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the views and reviews so far. Even if it's small it keeps me wanting to write more. When it comes to review's I'd like to take what a YouTube guy said in a video a few years ago on the Screwattack Channel. "Intellectual and introspective with the ever present openness to the idea that any opinion may prove to have merit." I'll be releasing chapters at a slower pace now. Since I'll be expanding greatly after the "main" story ends, I'll need to create new adventures.

 **Chapter 8: Old Scars**

 **June 4** **th** **, 2010 2100 Hours**

 **Gulf of Oman, Pakistani Territorial Waters**

Business had gone back to usual after we were done with our vacation in Dubai. I was out on the roof of the bridge on my last beer for the night before I was gonna head off to bed, some Belgian stuff we bought before we left. Naturally during our time off Koko had a bunch of orders come in. After we had the _Fruition_ refueled and restocked we headed to our next client, a representative from the Pakistani government in Karachi. The product was new targeting systems and navigation computers for their fighter jets. I didn't need to figure out that they were just trying to keep their guard up with their neighbor, India. But what was nerve racking was that both nations were two of the worlds militaries that had the capability to launch a nuclear strike on each other within spitting distance.

Pakistan and India had never really had a stable relationship once India declared its independence from Great Britain in 1947. With three full scale wars and a lot of skirmishes both sides were constantly butting heads over the rights to specific territories that they claimed was their own. The last full scale one in 1971 was a disaster for Pakistan causing it to lose over half its entire population in, at the time, East Pakistan and recognize that new nation as Bangladesh. The possibility of full scale destruction to both sides almost came in December of 2001. While we in the US were busy focusing on Afghanistan fighting the Taliban and Al-Queda. There was an attack on the Indian parliament by Pakistani extremists that India claimed were backed by Pakistan's ISI, The Inter-Services Intelligence. The standoff with 800,000 troops combined on both sides with nuclear capability were at a standstill all the way till June. And just two years ago more Pakistani extremists conducted a four day rampage in Mumbai, India. Effectively killing the peace talks both nations were trying to put together.

I then started to think back to the conversation Koko and I had about the Development Goals the UN was planning. India and Pakistan were part of all those countries that were participating in it but they've been totally concerned with their rivalry. The US was no different, with a federal debt that was now that was now over ten trillion dollars and still in Iraq and Afghanistan there was no way that debt could ever be paid off. Short of an act of God. Koko was starting to seem like a real life Nostradamus, the world was spending more of its time and resources on either crap or killing each other rather than a future. That Development Goals plan was gonna crash and burn.

"Hmph. And here I am riding with people that are only a fraction of the problem and are gonna be in the group most likely to survive the inevitable tidal wave of shit that's gonna hit everything."

"I don't think that would be a good way to survive if you were never able to get rid of that big a smell."

I turned around and saw Lehm, unlit cigarette in his mouth as usual.

 _Looks like he's done waiting. I'd hoped he forgot but it looks like now I got no choice._

"If you're looking for a drinking buddy you're out of luck. This was my last one."

"Not thirsty. It's been over a week and we still got four days till we reach Karachi." He then lit it. "You promised me you'd tell me. I'm a little sad you haven't yet."

He let out a rather long blow.

"And were also going to the same country you fled to after you deserted your unit."

 _It will never get any easier no matter how many times I tell it._

"I hope you got a full pack of cigarettes old man." I finished my beer and set the box with the other empty bottles. "This story ain't gonna be short."

 **Two and a half years earlier:**

 **October 28** **th** **2007 0900 Hours**

 **Fort Bragg, United States, 3** **rd** **Special Forces Group 2** **nd** **Battalion HQ**

 _First impressions are usually everything, just gotta hope this guy isn't one of those "by the book" types,_

The battalion executive officer, Major Harmon Freeburn, began to read over my file. He had the features of a classic garrison officer. Crew cut with a conservative style, my father told me that unlike deployments garrison life was a little more strict. The Army did have a public appearance that had to be maintained. But he put an emphasis on public, meaning that if you weren't in uniform and on duty you could do almost damn near anything. Assuming you were gonna pay the consequences for it later. It was my first day on the job and only four months after I got my green beret. I was glad I finished in the summer cause the cold came rather fast this year for North Carolina.

"1st Lieutenant Damien Hannibal Andrushko. Graduated two years ahead of your peers due to exceptional academic marks and just shy of your twentieth birthday. After signing multiple waivers they allowed you to become Ranger School, Airborne, Air Assault, and Pathfinder qualified you were selected to participate SFAS. Notable exceptions in marksmanship, close quarter combat, languages, and intelligence gathering."

I continued to stand at attention and not respond because he did not ask for any questions. He also didn't seem to care the fact that a man right out of the academy that was only twenty three had achieved more in two years in which most officers and enlisted take near a decade to accomplish. Physical presence not included, although I had slimmed down from all the training, I needed to put size back on me again.

"I'm going to be frank Lieutenant, and I also follow the battalion commander's notion on this. All of this just means you've completed what you are required to know to become an Operator. How you implement that knowledge in the field will decide whether or not to make or break you. Afghanistan and Iraq and continuing to heat up and we're needed the most because the insurgency's in both countries aren't letting up."

I'd been keeping track of the reports too, things were bad. After Saddam was no longer in charge the chains he kept on the ethnic groups from tearing each other apart exploded. Bombings were going off monthly. Not to mention that we were losing support from the people and it didn't help in the fact that that Blackwater group shot eleven civilians last month in which they "claimed" was lawful. Afghanistan was fairing no better, with the massive amount of kidnappings and the Kandahar Provence being especially hot.

"With that being said we need all the help we can get. You know we're fast responders so your gonna need to respond quicker than usual. I know you still just completed all your training and it's your first day but you now have orders to deploy to Afghanistan once December rolls around."

 _I knew this was gonna happen sooner rather than later. At least I don't have a whole lot of shit to worry about. Just me, myself and I._

"I'll get right on it prepping myself ready to go sir. Who am I gonna be attached to?"

"I'm not authorized to give you all the details but you're gonna be in charge of a team that's partially working with the CIA out in northern Kandahar."

 _Central Intelligence Agency? Don't know what the hell I just jumped into but fuck it! It's another step closer to my ultimate goal._

"Understood, sir. Will that be all?"

"No it's not, _I_ still have to welcome you to the team!"

I turned around. It was the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Justin Pegorino. A native of Chicago's South Side, he was a stocky Italian man with deep bronze skin with slick back pitch black hair. His accent was almost comical as he must have really loved his heritage. I almost recognized him immediately cause he used to be a platoon leader in my father's former unit in the 1st SFG.

"Welcome to 3-2. Very recognizable name, you're Marcus Andrushko's son aren't you?"

He held out his hand and I took it.

"I am but I'm not here to try and reclaim his throne or anything sir."

"You done with him Harm? I wanna show him around and help him get acclimated."

"Yeah he's good for now. He'll have more things to get to later in the week but today is just the introductions."

We made for the Lieutenant Colonel's office and both sat down.

"Hope you didn't see the Major as a by the book type. I'm sure I don't need to tell you we bend the rules a little bit, but above all we never break them."

"Affirmative sir."

"And don't use that damn terminator talk when you speak to others around here you're not part of the regular army anymore."

 _Hmm…let's see how this next line goes and I can stick to how I always act. I just hope he won't give me the nickname "jackass."_

I deeply sighed and said. "Amen, hallelujah, and peanut butter."

I scored a rise out of Pegorino. "Ha! Ha! I like your conception on how you express relief! I think you'll fit in with the rest of the teams well."

"The one thing they couldn't change me on no matter how hard they tried was who I was as a person sir."

"And why's that?"

"I know for a fact that I am a free man."

"Uhh…care to elaborate on that Damien?"

I had explained this reasoning over and over again to my friends, family, and guys I was getting along with so many times it had gotten boring and somewhat cheesy in my head. But it was true none the less.

"The short version, I know for a fact that everything I can do involves a choice. So I chose to find a way to influence the world, the black ops world seems like a good place to be to accomplish that."

He raised an eyebrow with a smile that clearly explained, _Really?_

"I'll fight in the way a Green Beret should but in the end I wanna try and make a way I can influence the world and let people know there is more in the world than just what they see. It's what they can't see or have never researched about."

"Hmm. Wanna change the future?"

"I don't believe in fate sir. If everything was predetermined then what's even the point of doing ANYTHING?"

That part I said with solid conviction and belief. If Pegorino knew my dad, then he knew once we held on to a belief or an idea we stuck to it. We were stubborn like that.

"You know you look like you're a solid individual with conviction in your heart. But I'm sure you know that in our line of work, not everything is black and white."

If there was one person dad trusted more than anyone other than mom it was me. He told us everything, he said he wanted a little insurance if anything bad every happened to him but mom and I both knew he wanted to let a few things off of his chest to ease his conscience. Sometimes in the world of black ops you had to be the bad guy in order to accomplish the mission or save lives. But he often said he would be the worse guy to people who truly deserved their fate. I would use that exact same tactic.

"Well let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

"Hope for the best and plan for the worst. It's what all of us were taught. Now here's where you need to know something rather critical, just because we have a presence in Afghanistan doesn't mean we all go at the same time. We function as small units attached to larger ones all over the world. Normally the Pentagon sends us into hot spots where we need to execute a task and then get out before the enemy knows your even there but for this deployment it won't be the case. You will be in charge of men in an area where you will not have any superiors to report to. It will depend entirely on you one whether or not you will succeed or not. Can you handle that level of responsibility?"

 _Jesus Christ. First fucking deployment and I'm totally on my own waging war my own way on behalf of The United States. One screw up and it's gonna fall entirely on me. Hell of a way to see how I can handle myself._

"If I didn't then I wouldn't be here sir. Just let me pack and then give me my orders."

"Excellent. Then get ready for a bit of a surprise."

 **One month later:**

 **December 1** **st** **2007 1830 Hours**

 **Home of Major General Marcus Leon Andrushko, Virginia, 5 days until deployment**

Independence was sort of a genetic requirement in our family. My father being the youngest of three brothers did not mean he was the one that was always enthusiastic and got along with everyone. He took his time and worked his way up by enlisting first right out of high school against grandads wishes then hooked up with and married a girl named Lauren, my mother. Naturally after I was born when he was only nineteen my grandad threatened he'd permanently cut him off from the family. But after he was accepted into Officer Candidate School after the Gulf War and passed it cooled the family tension. Sometimes a parent doesn't always know best for their child, guess it was my turn to uphold the lineage.

"God why did you spend more money on that damn ink? You could have at least waited till you were done."

Dad did allow me to live my own life once I got out of the house but I hated that he always get on my case every time I spent money on something he thought I could have invested in better. It was the last day I had to have my arm covered in plastic from the new tattoo. I'd figure he'd be a little more excited since my recent promotion to Captain, I did have money I could spend.

"Hey dad your hypocrite is showing." I said sarcastically.

I pointed at dad's own tattoo on his left forearm, a memorial tattoo to my mother, an angel looking up to the heavens. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when I was ten and when she died dad had to make it a quick funeral because at the time the Bosnian Civil War was reaching its climax. He and his team had to go in under the guise of UN Peacekeepers and get evidence of the Serbs killing off innocent Croats and Muslims. He decided to make his honor to her permanent. Same why I decided to make an honor of him with my own cleaver representation of the 1st Special Forces Group.

"Well unlike me I never once told you not to join up, you did that yourself. And not to mention go far in places I never even dreamed of. It looks like your mom's intelligence rubbed off on you a little too much."

"She did make you into a sucker sometimes. Like when we lived in Fort Benning, she tricked you into buying tickets to a Buccaneers HOME game?" Mom always got him to do stuff he needed to do whether he wanted to or not. And I always smiled at him mischievously whenever he got played. And then came the phrase in which we expressed our love as father and son.

"You're a piece of shit boy."

"Yeah, but I'm your piece of shit."

We continued dinner in silence. Dad didn't bother explaining what I didn't already know but he'd be lying he if wasn't concerned. As the senior tactical operations officer in the US SOCOM he knew how dangerous the missions could be and what would happen to me if I was caught. There were nasty stories about what the Taliban did to civilians who helped the American's, God knows what they'd do to us.

"I know you will hold on to your convictions but in this line of work you need to be flexible. That means you WILL need to fall into the gray area. But only if you must."

 _I remember the stories dad. You don't need to remind me._

"I'll only say this once dad. If I ever did something that seemed reckless or dangerous or even stupid. I would think it out far before I executed, and I would have had a damned good reason for doing it. If I screwed up I'll stand tall and face the consequences like a man."

He stood up and placed his hand on my head. Like a noble king transferring the command of his army to his son a born and bred hero.

"Just come home alive and safe my son."

"I will dad."

 **Present time:**

 **June 5** **th** **2010 0001 Hours**

"Five uneventful days later I got onboard a plane to Kabul. It was the last time I would ever see home."

I looked up from the railing to Lehm. I wondered if he actually ever breathed air.

"That's about half the story. You wanna hear the rest? It's getting late."

"You said the whole thing, and I'm not that sleepy."

"Fuck."

 _Here we go into where it all went wrong._

 **June 9** **th** **2010 1632 Hours**

 **Karachi, Pakistan, aboard the** ** _Fruition_**

Lehm's reaction wasn't the one of shock and hatred like I had expected, more like of understanding. I was looking down at him on the docks like he was carrying on with business as usual as he was flanking Koko. This deal managed to go over without a hitch. Payment was confirmed and they were offloading the last container of the product. I didn't know how he managed to take what I told him. Maybe he saw pity in me or maybe I was the first one he ever heard that actually hated himself for what he'd done. Whatever his reason, his answer was still the same after that shootout with Orchestra.

 _"_ _Whoever that person was, he's no longer the one in front of me."_

I prayed to God that he didn't just say that because he wanted to. Last thing I wanna have is everyone ready to kill me to prevent a time bomb going off. But at least I had a little less stress on me that one other person other than Koko knew how I fell out of the "sane" world and into theirs.

"What's goin on big guy?"

I turned to my left and it was Wiley. Smooth and charismatic just like Lehm, except he had a few more healthy habits and from what Lehm told me even though I hadn't seen it yet was our resident explosives expert.

"Nothing much. Sky's blue, water's wet, Koko sells guns."

"Very funny but in all things serious you haven't left the ship since we made port. Something amiss?"

 _I'd be lying if I said no._

"I asked Koko not to leave. This place gives me too many bad memories. That and this is where I made some of my first contracts, I don't wanna risk running into anyone I know. The unofficial CIA bounty on my head is so big that even my former employer's wouldn't hesitate to sell me out."

"Doesn't surprise me. Considering who you've worked for you've never had a consistent string of employer's."

I had to be picky on who would be my employer would be considering the CIA had placed me on a terrorist watch list but when I first started off I didn't have much of a choice considering the entire US military was trying to find me after I had set a CIA black site on fire. I had to fall into the gray areas and earn the trust of some not too pleasant Pakistani opium runners and even gun dealers that I knew were supplying the Taliban with AK's to be used against US Troops. Only after I made enough money I set up a Swiss Account and then I fled to hide out in Istanbul for three months to let the heat die down on the US tracking me.

"I had to. There's still the official and unofficial channels that get the CIA or any of the other alphabet agencies to designate you as a serious threat. Naturally everyone else that was above me was non US or was already a part of a major criminal syndicate. Depends on how well you behave and whether or not the US thought it was worth their time. Naturally I always kept my head on a swivel."

"I honestly know the feeling. It's why I've been with Koko's company for the longest time. Since you came on board it was only she and I that were on the FBI's blacklist."

I knew that Wiley had been gifted with explosives but I wondered what made him so special from other would be bombers with fertilizer and some copper wire.

"Is being who you were as a Delta Operator part of that?"

"Somewhat. When I graduated from the University of Virginia I had a masters in Architecture. When I joined up and got my commission I chose combat engineer."

"Ahh…I can put the math together now. With that kind of knowledge providing you get all the materials you need. You could destroy pretty much anything. Working for an arms dealer helps but also hurt's at the same time."

"And unlike you I've stuck with Koko for a long time so as far as the US is concerned I'm just one of her employers." He looked down and saw her signal. "Looks like the deals done. We'll be departing soon."

 **June 15** **th** **2010 1000 Hours**

 **The Arabian Sea**

When I asked that why we were moving slower than usual somebody from the Asia branch of HCLI wanted to do a cargo transfer. Seems that Koko had something they needed and were gonna do a trade. I had fallen into the habit of paying attention to stuff that wasn't really interesting but like everyone else we were trying to relieve our boredom. I'd figure now would be a good time to challenge Lutz to a marksmanship duel. The moment I heard that he used to be a part of GSG-9 I didn't bother asking anything else. After the massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich, the German government formed this unit with the sole purpose of counter terrorism. There was no better group in the world and Lutz was one of their prime snipers. Like me he saw quality in a preferred weapon as opposed to durability. His choice was a Sig Sauer .338 Lapua Magnum and mine was a modified Remington .375 Ultra Mag. Lutz didn't say anything but the look on his face was telling me why the hell I would I use a round that was used for big game hunting be used for sniping. While both rifle's had a similar muzzle velocity the kinetic energy from a .375 was far superior and the target will feel the impact. Since most insurgents and guerilla's don't wear body armor the .338 made more sense to use but since I was going up against a more diverse enemy that was never the same it was gonna be more than likely I'd go up against enemies with body armor. I needed something with the reach of a .308 but not use the overkill of a .50 and I chose that caliber.

We hooked up our floating target's on ropes and set them adrift at the stern and set up.

"So what's the prize when I beat you?"

 _Arrogant blonde jackass._

"You can pick what everyone eats for dinner tonight."

"That's not much of a prize considering everyone scarfs down everything you make."

"Well then let's make this quick and easy and then we just practice until we run outta bullets."

"What's that?"

"Not to sound cliché but, one shot one kill. We'll let the targets drift out another two hundred meters and see who got the closer bullseye."

He looked at me like I just killed his morning but he knew I wanted to get more practice and some of his expertise on sniping. He was the pro I was the amateur.

"Alright. Boring, but alright."

After we let the target's out further he went first. He didn't wait very long, since he did this all the time it was second nature. "You're up man."

I laid down and set up my bipod, loaded one round, and adjusted the scope cause the breeze was rather strong today. I remembered from what my dad said after I beat him in a shooting match that anyone could be a great shot. The only difference between them and snipers is that they placed a much greater emphasis on not being seen but that didn't matter in this little duel. I waited for about a minute breathing slowly while keeping the crosshairs on the bullseye. Hold breath, trigger squeeze, recoil.

"Ok let's see who's better."

After we brought the targets up it was clear who won.

"You may have hit the bullseye but mine is closer to the center. I want fried fish for tonight!"

"Alright whatever. Lets get back to practicing."

 **June 16** **th** **2010 1400 Hours**

Quality firearms were one thing, finding a buyer that wanted to spend the money was another. That was the story of the XM8 weapons system. It completely fell out of interest with the US military five years ago but that didn't stop it's production and it found homes with other armies around the world, PMC's especially. Lutz, R, and Wiley were playing around with one at the stern, we were waiting on the other HCLI ship to get here so we could continue our trip south back to Africa.

"Wow bad ass! I can barely feel the recoil."

"Lutz let me try." R got in front of Wiley.

I was just watching, being my usual anti-social self.

"Damien!"

I turned around and saw Koko, she wasn't in her normal preference for all white. The large hat was definitely off for her and it struck me as weird.

"What the hell are you wearing? You out for an afternoon drive or a day at the beach?"

She laughed. "Unlike you who normally runs around on deck half-dressed I prefer keeping my complexion safe from the sun."

"Koko, the captain's on the radio." Valmet spoke up and I turned away.

It was strange, but I found it rather comforting in the fact a ghost like and sometimes ice cold woman with a band of very efficient mercenaries made me forget the memories that were still haunting me. It looked like I'd finally found some stability in the last two years. I also found it funny that when their human side came out, it was well expressed.

"FUCK MY LIFE!"

I turned around and Koko was gripping her Iridium phone like she just bombed on a deal.

 _Now what?_


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: New Scars**

 **June 16** **th** **2010 1415 Hours**

 **Arabian Sea**

The only way Koko would freak out like that would be if something came down from HQ. But she turned into all business mode cause there was no stomping around like if Elmer Fudd shot Bugs Bunny and completely missed. As I saw her walk off talking to the radio I heard Wiley below me.

"Hey Damien! I need you to come with me, Koko wants me to show you something."

"Alright."

As we both headed below decks to the main computer room I heard the clanging of metal above decks. The cargo was being transferred. I noticed we were walking to the computer room a little fast. I knew Wiley didn't peg me as stupid so I asked him rather bluntly.

"Ok bro. Why did Koko tell you for me to stick to you?"

"There's…actually something she wanted to show you but we had to wait at least until we were away from Africa and we didn't want you looking over your shoulder constantly."

"What do you mean?"

"It's better if I show you, she received this information from one of the Dubai police commanders. It's in the computer room."

It never really struck me as a shock to see the kind of hardware and software most civilians had access to instead of military, unless you were CIA or NSA. The US in all of its branches used their equipment until it completely broke down and stopped working. Regardless of how much newer and better shit was being developed, we always took from the lowest seller. One good thing I could say about being on the other side was that I had what I NEEDED to have. But what I didn't need was the added stress from what Wiley showed me.

"So…this shithead is CIA?"

"Yep. Full name, Jerrald Paul Shattzberg and goes by the code name Scarecrow."

"Scarecrow? I take it this guy is just supposed to look threatening and pray the scavengers don't figure out that he isn't one?"

"Not entirely, he got that name because he's supposedly very good and keeping away the "crows" that eye CIA's money flow. He also has an incredible knack for tracking business deals that seem very shady. We had the unfortunate timing of stumbling into his territory cause he was looking for work after his last gig went cold. Looked like trying to catch Koko seemed like a good idea."

"That didn't pan out too well for him then."

"The other reason he got the name "Scarecrow" is also because of the lack of grey matter between his ears. I think you figured that out for sure when he kicked you in the face and didn't know who you were."

When the Central Intelligence Agency was first formed it was to be the premier group that combated the Soviet KGB. We looked towards the British SIS to model ourselves after because they were in the spy game longer than we were. While well intended, their execution was horribly flawed considering the people they put in charge of field ops. During the Cold War and even today its screw ups matched their successes. Operation Gladio in Europe, Bay of Pigs, Operation Chaos in the antiwar movement, the dictator Mobutu Seko, and Iran-Contra are just the events of which people already know. I witnessed first-hand on how the CIA was hurting the US resolve in Afghanistan rather than helping it so I would know. So Shattzberg was another fool in the circus that was supposed to be our group of intelligence gatherers.

"Well if this _Shitsturd_ loser is so blinded by his ego I'm not too worried. But thanks for letting me know, I'll thank Koko later."

"Not a problem. You know what I also have a new updated list of possible threats that none of us went over yet. Might be a good idea and plan ahead."

"Good idea. I prefer at least seeing a threat through its disguise. Gimme a second I just gotta take a leak, I promise I won't do to you what I did to Tojo and ditch you."

"Go on. I gotta bring the list up anyway."

The clanging of the containers being offloaded continued above on the main deck as I headed to the men's room. I only used the sea terms that actually applied to a ship and made sense to me. Calling the toilet the "head" was where I drew the line. However as I was washing my hands I never expected a pile shit to stand next to me but considering where we were at it was appropriate for him to be there.

"Hey big guy. Good to see you!"

There was no need for a response, just a reaction. A reaction of a left hook right in between the eyes and above the nose of Kasper Hekmatyar. I then dived on him in a dominant mount. This was gonna be enjoyable, or it was when I felt a boot hit under my jaw and forced me on my back. I immediately tasted blood and then heard the distinct sound of a safety click. When I looked up I saw a figure dressed entirely in black with all too familiar tattoo on the right forearm. Her FN P90 PDW aimed at me from the hip.

"I wouldn't go any further then that _mishka._ I don't think you want to get hurt."

"Sorry Chiquita. But I got no time for your SHIT!"

She may have been standing over me but I still had the ability to pull off a leg sweep. After knocking her off balance I reached for her PDW and let my weight ride us back as I threw her with a judo toss her over myself but her weapon was slung on her so I couldn't take it. I quickly got up as she was about to and rushed her from behind and put her in a choke hold. But my size worked against me as I had to kneel down slightly to get my arms around her she performed a leg sweep of her own but I didn't let her go. She landed on top of me with her plate carrier landing right on my chest like getting smacked with a shovel. Seizing the moment she back head butted me in the nose, but not before I managed to liberate her sidearm. She sprung to her feet as I flicked the safety off still on the floor and we ended up like a scene in a John Woo movie. Her forehead was bleeding from the throw and my nose and mouth from the kick and head butt.

"See? Now you're bleeding."

 _His arrogance really rubs off on his cronies._

"I'm only gonna say this once you old broad. Your boss slash fuck stick is due a serious lesson in humility and I aim to collect!"

I pulled back the hammer on her Sig but she didn't flinch. Like him she a lazy type of smile that never left her. Koko's brother or not, he did try to kill me and while there's a sick concept of forgiving people or letting it go in this twisted world I fell into this would never be something I take just letting pass by.

"DAMIEN! CHIQUITA! ENOUGH! KASPER GET HER TO BACK OFF!"

Koko. She must have heard the commotion and didn't want any more of a mess. Wiley and Lehm were right behind her. Kasper then stood up.

"Calm down Chiquita. That was just his way of saying hello. And I have to say his skills haven't dulled so let's not make this bloody. Don't worry Damien, if Koko says no, I won't argue with her."

After a few tense seconds we both flipped the safeties on our guns and both went to the sinks to wash the blood off our faces, I handed Chiquita back her sidearm and Koko started yelling.

"What the hell were you even thinking?! You knew he was on the ship and you just _decided to take a piss_ and just hope you ran into him to cause trouble?!"

"It was an accident I swear!"

"Don't give me your bullshit I want you off my ship now! The moment you have the last container you leave!"

As they all left I was the last one out of the bathroom doing my damnedest to stop the blood coming from my nose. As I stepped outside, Lutz and R were there. Probably to make sure I didn't do a blindside tackle on Kasper.

"First time I've actually seen you hurt. But then again you went up against Chiquita so naturally that must have been quite a challenge."

If I clicked with anyone very well other than Koko it had to have been Lutz, apart from being close to each other in age we both had sarcasm as our second language. We also had done our damnedest to keep our morals in check. He told me on how he didn't shoot that teenage Orchestra member but he understood that when a combatant is or is just above a child they can be more of a dangerous threat in a fire fight as opposed to adults. Lehm sought to that.

"She at least learned from the last time we met."

"Wait. You two fought before?" R inquired.

"Yeah. You guys probably don't know this yet but Kasper is the real reason I'm here with you guys."

 **Five months earlier:**

 **February 19** **th** **2010 1200 Hours**

 **Sezin Military Outpost, Myanmar**

After the Second World War ended it didn't mean all of the world's militaries stopped fighting. Since all of Europe was a smoking wreck and doing their best to try to rebuild their countries they couldn't hold on to their overseas colonies in Africa and Asia. Naturally they wanted their own independence and before the 40's ended dozens of newly formed republics popped up. Short version, some of the colonies just got their independence and others didn't wait for the Europeans to get to the negotiation table and went straight to fighting them. Whether they didn't know or didn't care when the Europeans lost their colonies they had also lost the reigns controlling all the ethnic groups within them and they naturally continued their old tribal feuds that had lasted since before their occupation. Throw a dart at a large scale map of Africa or South East Asia and it's likely to hit a spot where there was a civil war with either no winner and just a pile of corpses or just a coup in where a piece of shit just replaced another piece of shit. And I ended up right smack dab in the middle of one of the worst ones, the one that was documented as the longest running civil war in history, Myanmar, also known as Burma. Where some in my line of work saw it as a mercenaries paradise I saw it as a cesspit that gave real mercs a bad name and a disgrace to the profession. It's places like this that turn decent mercs into fucking terrorists. Only reason I was in this jungle hell was because I made a deal with a Thai pimp that if I kept one of his old friends safe he'd clear up a misunderstanding I started with an opium dealer cause he though I took more of my fair share of a cut of protection money I was turning in. It wasn't really a misunderstanding, I just gave some of the money back to some of the businesses he was ripping off but he didn't need to know that. The moment my contract was up with this fat bastard Aye Win I was getting the hell out of South East Asia.

"Captain! You're on the clock! I'm not paying you to stand around!"

 _You're lucky that you're paying me period. Or else I would have just smashed your face in so you could stop screaming your angry bullshit._

I walked back to him and guarded his flank. It was only the second day and I was already having second thoughts about the contract I formed with him. While money was the only thing I really trusted I knew it wasn't gonna get me any closer to bringing closure to what happened two years ago. Whether or not Win really knew who I was or wasn't he didn't care the Burmese government was well known for the scorched earth shit they did to suppress the five major states that were against the militarist regime. Rapes, executions, torture, burning villages, displacement of people into poverty the list was fucking endless. Not to say that the five states, the Kachin's, Kayah's, Kayin's, Rakhine's, and Shan's were any better. While the Burmese regulars, if I could even call them that, were more well known for their crap both sides employed the use of child soldiers, landmines, torture, slave labor, and of course ethnic cleansing. I was in the Kayin State and in the area where Win was fighting against the third largest minority group in Burma, the Karen people. But unfortunately I couldn't take sides in a war that even after 60 years had no end in sight. And I often thought about the next generation that was born in here that they were just gonna keep going on with the fighting cause they didn't know anything else.

"I hope for your sake Colonel Win that those four children over there are not part of your battalion."

"You need not concern yourself with the orphan's. They volunteered to work on my base they're message runners and do menial tasks for my soldiers while they're out finding those damn Karen. They work and we give them a roof over their heads and they are fed three times a day."

 _Two "Ifs". One, if you're lying to me I cut your throat in your sleep and consider our contract terminated. Two, if they volunteered, why the hell does it look like they haven't had a bath in months._

Throughout the history of war, there had always been those that were not old enough to be legally classified as an adult fight on the battlefield. While the modern world had unanimously rejected it, it had greatly degenerated in the third world countries into which warlords could just easily manipulate children to do their dirty work better than adults could. This taboo was everywhere and no nation was immune to it. Even the youngest Medal of Honor recipient in US History was a Marine named Jacklyn Lucas who forged his mother's signature on a waiver and enlisted when he was 14. At age 17 he jumped on a grenade at the Battle of Iwo Jima and survived as well as saving the lives of his fellow Marines. While his actions were noble and he wanted to keep his friends safe it didn't exclude the fact that he was still underage and did not need to be near a battlefield.

Getting back on the subject. There was one other fact that shouldn't be exclude, basic hygiene.

 **1925 Hours**

Even though I had a Burmese dictionary sometimes all I had to do was use a specific dialect and presence and that usually got Win's thugs to back off. Being also nearly two feet higher and a hundred and fifty pounds heavier than damn near everyone on the base worked too.

"You clowns are gonna wait five more minutes and like it or the next line ya'll are gonna be in is the doctor's office!" I growled.

I got the four children, Maurice, Moka, Aung, and Elizabeth into the latrine before it was the soldiers time. I stood outside the door to make sure they had their privacy. It didn't really surprise me that two of them had English names since the country was once part of the British Empire. The English language was a bit sporadic in the county but most people got the better gist of it, same thing applied in India. The best ones that spoke it out of the group was Maurice and Moka second.

"You guys almost done in there? You got little more than half an hour till bed time."

"Were done! We just finished dressing!" Maurice said.

They came out one at a time and looked up at me like curious puppies wondering what to do next, I then turned to Moka.

"I trust the boys behaved themselves sweetheart?"

"They did." Her accent was heavier than Maurice's but she understood me completely.

"Then go to bed. You do have chores to do tomorrow. Hopefully looking a little cleaner will get them to ease up."

As they hurried off I turned to the regulars with a dark stare.

"Go ahead and tell Win what I did. Tell him that he just pays me to keep his ass alive and I'll do it. What I do on my own time is my own goddamn business!"

Some of that business was making sure I had my own humanity in check.

 **February 21** **st** **2010 1530 Hours**

 **Lai-hka Hill's, Myanmar**

 _This shit never gets any easier. Am I lying to myself? If I really don't care I wouldn't have taken this contract, but if I didn't that opium lord would have hunted me all over South East Asia and he wouldn't stop. This isn't the first time I've protected scum but my head can't take much more of this. It's also not like I can't go to a priest or a shrink and say "Hey I'm a wanted mercenary and I'm concerned about the choices I made."_

Fortunately I had arrived after the fighting had ended, I was the driver for Win as he was taking a survey for what his thugs had did to this village out in Karen territory. The fires had died down and there were shell casings all over the place. His thugs obviously didn't care what they were aiming at. I was carrying some of his soldiers gear today, an AKM with an Eastern style ammo carrier while wearing BDU's, dark lens goggles and a black do-rag covering my face. I definitely didn't want to make any type of public appearance even though the Burmese have a massive discrimination of foreign journalists in the country. As Win was having a conversation with his officers I overheard shots, but as I turned no one was reacting. That meant only one thing, and there were six shots in slow iteration.

 _Christ in Heaven what the hell am I doing?_

"Let's go Captain. I got the reports I need."

As we then drove off in his truck his cell phone rang.

"Hello? Ah yes Mr. Gasud. Really? I'm glad we could do this earlier than I wanted to. I'll be back on base in little more than an hour. I'll see you then."

 **1647 Hours**

 **Sezin Outpost**

After we got back to Win's office there was a Middle Eastern man, definitely Gasud, waiting with a suitcase on Win's desk. It was money no doubt for a deal he wanted to do.

"Hello, Colonel."

"Welcome, glad you could arrive when you did."

Gasud then looked to me. It was obvious whatever he wanted to talk about he wanted to do it in private.

"This guy's obviously not one of your men. You employing mercenaries now?"

"It's ok Yusef, the Captain here is rather professional he doesn't ask questions."

 _That doesn't mean I don't listen you fat fuck._

"That will be all today Captain. You're no longer needed."

"Fine."

As I walked out of the room. I slowed my pace and got a brief stint of the conversation after I exited the door.

"I just wanted to say I accept your proposal and I was hoping that I would get the chance to discuss matters with him personally."

"That's actually not a problem. He's had a keen interest in Burma for a while. It'll take him a while to get out here but let me make the call."

 _Him? Whoever_ _this guy is he's just the middle man. But he's bringing something for Win._

After I had gotten out of my fatigues and into my regulars for the jungle climate the children were waiting for me. No surprise they trusted me more than they did the government troops and they enjoyed listening to some of my slightly over exaggerated tales of adventure.

"Damien! I missed you!" Moka shouted with excitement as she grabbed my leg.

"Ok! Ok! Just don't cut off the circulation to my leg."

She let go and the rest gathered around me. My second and far more preferred job of baby sitter commenced.

"You done working for Win?" Aung said. His English had been improving but not much.

"I still have to finish the time I'm assigned to him and that could be another month."

 _If I last that long without going crazy._

"When you leave we are coming with you." Maurice said.

"Yeah! Grow up to be big strong tough guy!" Elizabeth said throwing punches, the most spry of the four.

I knew right off the bat that I couldn't take these kids with me out of Burma. I sure as hell don't want them to be like me. The only thing I could do was to get them to one of the Doctors Without Borders groups in Thailand. The refugee camps would be just as good but they had runaways all the time.

"Ok let's eat first. Then I'll tell you what happened after I jumped out of that helicopter."

 **February 22** **nd** **1020 hours**

Win normally liked to stick to a schedule so I wondered why he was taking longer than usual. As I was walking to his office I turned a corner and saw he was walking toward me his hand on Moka's shoulder.

"We we're supposed to collect reports from your field commanders over an hour ago. What's going on?"

"Don't worry Captain. Just giving the girl here one last task for us to do and…we'll Moka why don't you tell him?"

"They said they'd take me to the Red Cross Camp in Thailand! I have the passport and papers here!"

I took the papers and they were legit. I had used and seen plenty of fakes in the last two years and they were real. I didn't know what the hell Win's game was but he wasn't gonna get on my good side with one good gesture. I handed back the papers to Moka, her expression looked more of relief that she was getting away from here. I smiled back and then looked at Win still wanting my answer.

"There's also good news for you too Andrushko. I'm awaiting a rather important guest but I don't know what time he will arrive today. So I won't be leaving the base, you get the day off but don't leave the base unless you get my permission."

"Right."

He signaled to his men and they escorted her away. I turned and saw Win walk away in the other direction with Gasud. He was looking at me with interest. No doubt when he heard my name it must have raised an eyebrow. I did have a reputation.

 **1300 Hours**

After chow I decided I would take a run around the base. There wasn't much else to do other than check my phone on the scores of games back stateside as well as my bank accounts that Win was paying what I was owed. As I was walking back to my room I heard a whisper.

"Damien over here!"

I turned and I saw Maurice, his eyes bloodshot and he was scared out of his mind. He took me to behind some crates and grabbed me and started sobbing.

"Damien…they…they…"

"Calm down. What happened what's wrong?"

"It's Moka. They…they killed her! I overheard a group of soldiers talking. That she thought they were going to Thailand. They said that they made her walk through an old minefield."

In that moment, time had literally stopped. My curse had come back to plague me.

 _Sweet merciful God in heaven why!? She didn't do anything! Why!?_

I hugged Maurice closer as I started gritting my teeth and shut my eyes hard. I didn't know what the hell was going on but I didn't care. The evidence led back to one person, Win.

"Damien what's gonna happen to us!?"

"Don't worry you, Aung, and Elizabeth are NOT staying here and neither am I. We're getting out of here tonight."

I reached into my pocket. One good thing about this pack of rats is that they kept their distance from me unless it was business. That included my room and my stuff.

"Take my key, get the rest of the kids, go to my room, lock the door and shut the shades. Don't let any of the soldiers see you go in. I'll be back soon. I'll knock on the door four times, three normal, pause one second and then hit it. Understand?"

He was doing his best to hold his tears back it was clear he was still scared and so was I.

"Do you understand me Maurice? Do you trust me?"

He calmed down. "I do."

"Alright then go."

As he went to get the other kids. I began formulating a plan, I managed to get a good idea of the bases layout in my rather short contract to my former employer.

 **1345 Hours**

After the kids let me in with my secret knock I went over to my personal equipment case, naturally the children had looks of concern about their faces as I was laying out all of my guns and even more so the packs of C4 I was saving for if a situation had planned for it. Turns out tonight was the night. I was gonna have to leave some of my stuff behind though but it didn't matter I'd just buy replacements.

"Damien, what are you planning?" Aung said. Obviously scared that he might have made a bad idea.

"I'm gonna let Win know he brought a lion into his pack of hyenas."

 **1820 Hours**

The hardest part was the waiting for it to get dark. Making sure that Win and his thugs didn't catch on was just as important. Since his business partner he was making a deal with still hadn't show up it was either now or never.

"Ok guys I'm go over the plan one last time. When I leave count five minutes, after that head towards the crates near the motor pool and stay low, stay quiet and stay out of light. Stay there until you hear the signal, then head towards the truck I mentioned, you remember which one it is?"

"You placed a trash can next to it with the lid put on it upside down." Said Aung.

"And signal is when the power station blows up." Said Elizabeth.

"Good, once I blow up the gas tanks and get the soldiers to be shooting at each other I'll be done. Then we drive out of here and speed towards Thailand."

I slung my HK 416 behind me tight so it wouldn't rattle against my plate carrier and took out something a little more quiet. One the world's finest submachine guns a suppressed MP5, just in case someone spotted me when I was slitting the throat of a sentry.

"Ok guys. Now or never, I'll see you at the truck."

Before I left Maurice grabbed my shoulder.

"Wait what happens if you get hurt?"

 _Well I hope he knows how to drive._

"The trucks these guys have don't use keys and they're not locked it's just flip switch. You should see it immediately. Just follow the route I gave you on the map marked in red and don't stop for anything. When you get to the border, give them that envelope, that's more than enough money for the Thai's to let you pass."

All three looked at me naturally scared and they weren't the only ones. Raid's could go in a hundred different directions I just hope I took the least shitty one.

"But don't worry, I'm not gonna get hurt and we're all leaving together. Sound good?"

I held out my hand in the form for a bro handshake. Naturally all three took it.

"Good." They said in unison.

"Ok here we go."

I poked my head outside the door and saw no sentries. I headed to the shadows, donned my night vision goggles, pulled out my knife and silently moved to the power sub-station.

 _Colonel Win, our contract is over and so is your life. Moka, if you can hear me I'm sorry. Even though you probably saw me as a gentle giant I'm anything but that. I'm actually worse than that fat bastard Win, cause it doesn't matter how you kill a person your still killing a person. But I'm not letting your soul suffer while that sadistic fuck continues to breathe. Moka, Maurice, Aung, Elizabeth, this is for you guys._


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The Nightmare Unleashed**

 **Five Months Earlier:**

 **February 22** **nd** **2010 1831 Hours**

 **Sezin Outpost, Myanmar**

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and now eight. I was praying that they wouldn't actually smell the blood or find the bodies. Or find the kids making their way to the motor pool. The power substation was in sight, knock out the lights and their comms so they can't call for reinforcements. Cause distraction by getting them to shoot at each other. Find Win. Cause another distraction by blowing the fuel tanks. Bolt it to the truck with the kids and kill anything I see. Then one nonstop trip to Thailand. Easy.

 _But when was it ever that?_

I opened the fence and set a charge for three minutes on both transformers. I didn't need much for the fuel tanks but I just hoped the charges were big enough to at least damage the transformers enough that they couldn't send out power. Tying my hair up in a ponytail I then cleaned up the blood on my knife sheathed it and pulled out my MP5 now I had to double time it to the fuel dump. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, detonation. The lights went out and chaos ensued, it was pitch black out tonight with no moon, it didn't matter through my NVG's.

 _Time to go hot._

I switched my MP5 for my carbine and loaded my 320. I saw a group of six trying to figure out what the hell was going on, amateurs. The blast found its mark as bodies and body parts went flying. That made twenty, but I'm done counting now. Whoever built this place wasn't very keen on seeing if hostiles can easily maneuver through the closely connected buildings and get the drop on anybody. Unfortunately that included me as well as I had to keep looking behind my shoulder. Falling back on my training, I let off controlled bursts but they were all over the place. Some fools decided to make themselves easy targets by using flashlights and I switch to single shot to take them out at a distance. As I was about to exit the corridor from the last two buildings before the fuel dump I saw two groups on opposite sides of me but they didn't notice me yet. I couldn't take both sides without getting hit by the other and I couldn't double back. Then I noticed earlier my MP was about to run dry and I could hold both that and my carbine pretty easily.

 _Don't really need to hit them._

I let off a long burst on both sides firing single handed as I sprinted towards a stack of crates outside the dump fence. As the two groups started firing on each other my luck continued to be good as they forgot to lock one of the side doors to the dump, I dropped my dry MP5 at the door. As I made towards the main tanks I prepped my last charge for 30 seconds, the panic was getting more intense as I heard gunfire erupting all over the base. I ran to the other side gate and blasted the lock off with my short M870. The tanks erupting in a ball of flame behind me. No more wasting time, it was time to find Win and get out of here.

 _I just got one more thing I need to do guys and were outta here._

The hanger buildings were the only thing left untouched. If he wasn't there I couldn't afford to run around and look for him. Time was a factor, and he could have used his cell phone to call for reinforcements. The front door was a bad idea but I didn't need to use that to get inside as I saw an open roof hatch and a service ladder.

 _My luck is seriously paying off today. I wonder if I might actually get laid when this is all over._

I had two clips left in my 416 and one HE 40mm left, but still plenty of shells for my short 870 and I hadn't fired my pistols yet. I was gonna have to ditch my carbine soon and after I got inside it was gonna be either close or closer. I loaded up my last grenade and sent it towards the side door of the hanger next to the main one. Firing off a long burst to get their attention and then sprinted to the containers around the hanger to the service ladder. The troops inside shooting back out the door at nothing, I had the elevation angle on them and let out my last burst from my 416. I then jumped off the rafters onto one of the containers and letting my weight take over rolled off it. Unfortunately it didn't make it any less painful as I landed on my side, I definitely bruised a rib or two. Taking advantage of the adrenaline I got to my feet and whipped out my shotgun. As I was listening to the shouting of Burmese I heard a distinct voice.

"The fighting's right outside we need to go!"

 _Gusad._

"SHUT UP! I'll handle it!"

 _Found you. Time to die you murdering fuck._

I made for the sound of the voices. The adrenaline as well as my anger were in overdrive. I didn't care what was around me, I just wanted Win dead. One, two, three, four, cover, reload, one, two, none in sight, reload. I moved along one container slowly I heard heavy breathing on the other side, more targets. As I moved around the corner a familiar fat figure stepped into my line of fire. No smart comment, no need to look him the eye, no mercy, just 00 Buckshot and a spray of red mist followed by a scream, not Win's.

"Holy shit!" Gusad was around the corner.

I wasn't even acting tactfully at that point, I was just venting my rage. I pumped a new shell into the barrel.

"Stand up asshole."

"WAIT! I'm not one of them! I'm just an arms dealer!"

"So what? How's that gonna get me to not kill you?"

"Then how about this?" He opened his briefcase, it was filled with hundred dollar bills. "This was just a percent of what my boss was gonna offer, $500,000. "

 _I don't got time for this shit._

"Money is not going to bring back an innocent girl that that fat ass murdered."

He looked at me in utter fear in his last moments and I pulled the trigger. The buckshot ripped easily through the cash and his torso.

"That's that. Time to get the hell out of here."

I moved towards the main door of the hanger but then my soldier sense picked up again. I wasn't alone in the hanger. It was confirmed when I heard several smoke grenades pop off, the area around me slowly making it hard to get a read on distance.

 _They can see me. They know I'm wearing night vision so I can't see through smoke, cleaver. These ain't Win's goons, they're different._

I lifted my NVG's up over my head and kept my shotgun at the high and ready. Slowly making my way to the hanger entrance, they were surrounding me, so I just had to wait. But I didn't have to wait long as a woman's voice spoke behind me, a ghost could have been louder than her in how she got so close.

"Hi big boy."

First shock, then 180 degree turn, and trigger pull. But she caught the shotgun with one hand. I then noticed her raise a FN P90 PDW up at my chest. I used my left hand to push the gun away from both of us and leaned forward with a head butt but my move backfired as she was wearing a gas mask inflicting as much damage on myself as her. Reeling back we both yanked our guns from our hands at the same time. I didn't give her a chance to go for her sidearm as I made the move with a forward step kick my size and height advantage would allow me to hit her right in the head. But she was faster and moved to the side with a side kick to my gut but my plate carrier absorbed the blow. We both stepped back into defensive postures, I needed to get her dazed and far enough away to draw my sidearm and get the hell out of the hanger. The children were still in danger. I hadn't really used all the martial arts I learned over the years cause normally it was an absolute last resort. All that jumping around kung fu shit was just flashy and it exhausted your stamina. Krav Maga was a good standard for me since it was part of my training. Mui Thai definitely complemented with me by applying strikes with my big limbs. But one that stood out as very alien and which most guys I fought didn't have a counter for was also my personal favorite, Silat. It had one purpose, kill your enemy.

 _Ok sweetheart. Let's dance._

She went first and had a greater reach than I expected but I countered with my left arm and struck with a straight from my right. Classic block and strike. She then backed off in another defensive stance, she knew a straight forward approach wasn't gonna work with me and I was no dumb slab of muscle. She quickly ripped her mask off and focused right at me. She didn't want to let me take advantage of the blind spots in her mask, she was no amateur either. She had emerald green eyes with satin black hair, a lazy type of smile and dare I say it, quite attractive.

"Hmm. You have very pretty blue eyes and the pony tail is cute too. It's a shame though, I hope I don't have to kill you."

 _Ignoring that, her accent is definitely American but it has a hint of Eastern European in it. Fuck it, not a priority._

I went with the first strike this time with an attempt to grab her shoulder but she looped her left around my right and landed a palm strike against my nose. But I used my strength advantage by throwing her back with her landing in a stumble. Seizing the moment I moved forward with a front spin kick but she ducked and knocked me off my feet with a sweep. I managed to control my landing but it didn't hurt any less, and then I saw her reach for her side arm, naturally I did the same. We both got off the ground slowly. It was only a matter of seeing who blinked first.

"You actually did very well, but you took into account I was your only adversary." She pointed a finger to her neck. "Give it up."

I slowly raised my hand in front of my neck and saw what I didn't want to, the red dot of a laser.

 _Stupid. Maurice, Aung, Elizabeth, I'm sorry. But please be safe._

I placed my first .45 down and then unholstered my other one and did the same thing followed by my knife. I stood up then placed my hands on my head.

"But still despite you being a cub you have the ferocious instincts and aggression of a bear. Very impressive _mishka._ "

I then heard footsteps. Two other's approached from the shadows, dressed in the same gear she was.

"I wouldn't believe this if I hadn't seen the evidence outside. This guy damn near killed every soldier on this base."

"I was wondering why they opened fire on us without warning. They must have thought we were him. I'll radio the chopper to touch down. There ain't no one left so there's no threat."

 **1915 Hours**

On my knees in cuffs, every soldiers worst nightmare cause that's normally followed by an execution. I couldn't afford to panic now. There was no doubt this guy was the VIP that Win was gonna meet with. I doubt he was gonna be very pleased that I just ruined one of his business deals but technically he didn't lose any money so I could work that in my favor. But my priority was making sure the children were safe. How the hell I was gonna do that though was still up in the air. He wore a simple grey suit and was probably my age. But he had unnaturally ice blue eyes and white blonde hair with fair skin and spoke almost like college jock only with more manners. But I doubt he had any and that woman continued to stare at me with that lazy face.

"My name is Kasper Hekmatyar. I'm an arms dealer, who are you?"

"Someone who needs to intervene and tell you, you have shitty taste in women." I tilted my head towards her.

"Careful. You only fought her to a standstill and she only half jokes. Question still remains."

He kneeled down and continued to look at me with a ponderous smirk a third masked guard right behind him and the woman at my flank.

"You sure as hell are not one of Win's men. And your way too old to be one of the four registered orphan's they took in. But judging from a few of the rather neatly placed weapons we found outside you have a rather fine taste for quality merchandise. And even though you are an American, I doubt even any of their agencies would send in a lone agent to start marauding through a Burmese Army Outpost. I'm guessing mercenary."

I shut my eyes and formed a scowl but my voice remained calm.

"Three. There are only three orphan's left. That sick son of a bitch Win made her walk through a minefield. He tricked her and me into thinking she was gonna get out of Burma. And I think you can put the rest together."

I looked up to him but his smirk was gone. It wasn't anger that I expected, more like concentration. He then stood up.

"Ok then. Have you had your fill?"

"What do you mean?"

"Despite whatever you may think, you had a justifiable reason going after Win and his men. You wanted revenge for a girl and he lied to both of you. He deserved what he got and I don't need to guess you didn't want what happened to her happen to the rest of the orphans."

"Is this conversation going anywhere other than praising me? What's your angle?"

"Little back story so you might understand. My younger sister and I were born on a cargo ship. In our youth we traveled with our father all over the world and I've got fake passports in every nation under the sun. Since I have no real homeland I don't have any concept of patriotism."

 _Seriously. Does he like the sound of his own voice?_

"My angle is that I find you actions rather abhorrent. All this death and destruction for one little girl."

"One _innocent_ girl and this base was full of anything but real soldiers. And before you get some kind of concept in your head about some big American action hero, I could give a damn about my country. I chose to do all of this for myself _and_ her."

"Hmm. Well either way it worked out for me in the end. And as far as Gasud goes it's just one less subordinate that didn't pay attention to what he was getting into."

 _At least he figured that out on his own. Still doesn't answer the question on how the hell I'm gonna get out of this one._

"I wasn't actually going to sell them weapons anyway, I was trying to get them into being complacent but it looked like Win figured out the bigger picture. This outpost was actually gonna be removed anyway. The Burmese were gonna begin construction of a major highway into this area to move in troops and export natural resources and he must have had the idea of profiting on it. The country itself was gonna make quite an economic push forward."

"Hmph. Money, it figures. You just made me feel even better, knowing that there was another good reason I turned that fuckers head into a smashed tomato."

"Your welcome. But that still doesn't resolve you of the fact you killed one of my subordinates. And I seriously doubt you're the type of guy that values his own life if he's backed into a corner. You'll fight your way out or die trying."

"Then don't waste my time with talk just kill me and get it over with."

"Calm down big guy. Killing you would not only be just plain vulgar but also shameful that you knew you avenged your friend's death only to needlessly die by having someone else kill you that had nothing to do with your vengeance."

He then walked off and without looking back spoke.

"Besides those three kids were scared out of their minds when we found them. It break their hearts knowing you died."

In my bad habit of uncontrollable rage I lashed out without thinking.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER! IF YOU HURT THEM I'LL-ARGH!"

I didn't remember much after that, just pain in the back of my head and then everything fade to black.

…

Darkness, followed but difficulty moving limbs, and inability to shout. I didn't know how long I was out but I knew I was moving. I heard the distinct sound of a diesel engine of a truck. I was in one of their cargo containers heading to God knows where.

…

I still didn't know how long I was in there. But this was part of my training, one of the more secretive things that the US military doesn't tell the public about what it's special forces go through. Considering the places we normally go to if we were ever caught we would be either tortured, killed, or made an example out of for propaganda reasons. You were beaten, you were starved, you were sleep deprived, you were mentally fucked with. All of it was made so that if the enemy ever caught you then you could resist them and find some way of escape. Isolation was part of it too, I had to keep my mind working.

…

It definitely had been more than 24 hours now. I was starting to show signs of dehydration and hunger. But what was really getting to me was that there was the possibility my life would end and then the memories came back. The jobs I had to take just to stay alive and remain on the run away from the US, the jobs in which I was technically part of the bad guys and made even more enemies when I backed out of the contracts I formed right in the middle of them because of what they were really doing. I then though about my father, how he would see me now. If my mother was still alive I wondered how she saw her little boy turn into something that rose out of hell. My former friends I made at West Point, my team, my training buddies, the four children. And finally my fuck up in Afghanistan where what I thought I was doing what was right turned me into an enemy of the United States.

That's when it hit me. I acted in a noble intention for an innocent girl by killing a truly evil man. It's one of the reasons on how I wanted to truly influence the world. Let true evil know it cannot continue getting away with all its shit. But the world decided to reject me from that. Does it hate me? Should I care?

…

No. I don't. I still have a free will and a choice to do whatever I wish to do or accomplish. I will hold on to my beliefs till the bitter end. If I didn't I would have gone back home and faced the judgement of a society that would have turned a deaf ear to whatever I would have said to the contrary. Why should I care what the world thinks, in the end it's a bunch of people I've never even met. Why would I hate them? The world can hate me, but I can still find beauty in it and I love it.

…

Light, followed by footsteps, and a scent of something salty. As I adjusted my eyes it wasn't the first thing I really wanted to see.

"Now before you jump to conclusions and want to try and kill me the moment the opportunity presents itself hear me out."

He then pulled out a knife and a plastic bag with something in it.

"I didn't expect you to keel over from something like this but I had to take some precautions. I tied you up like that _only_ after I found out who you were. But then it occurred to me that I think can benefit us both. And I know you were thinking the same thing too. But that's for later, for now I bet your hungry and thirsty. I got these noodles from one of the shops outside the docks, they're actually pretty good. We can't negotiate if you can't talk."

He finished cutting the ropes and gag and tried to lift me up but I barely had the strength to stand anyway.

"Hey Chiquita can you help? He's heavier than he looks."

"Alright you big wuss. You gonna behave yourself _mishka?_ "

"Just help me up, I can't barley muster the strength to be sarcastic."

They carried me out of the container and set me down on the side I was careful not to inhale the noodles considering that would do more harm to me if I ate too fast I'd throw it back up. I then looked up to Hekmatyar, the damn smirk still on his face.

"I think you know the first questions I want to ask."

"They are safe, we're in Yangon, and it's going on your third day."

 _He probably opened it this last day so I wouldn't die of thirst. But he mentioned a way that benefit the both of us. Time to play a tune to seduce this assholes wallet and maybe his ego._

"You mentioned negotiations and your right I do wanna talk business. I also don't have any employer now so whatever you have in mind I'll do it, no fees or anything. It's just those three kids, send them far from here, safe and have the ability to lead a happy life. I don't care what happens to me."

"Deal. But one thing about what you said is wrong though. You are an excellent soldier, you should care about what happens to you. I didn't sit on my ass in a car for the last three days Damien, I did a lot of research about you. Despite what you think you've led quite an interesting life. You follow a set of rules, while they're your own, they're fair to those in this line of work. Your you and no one else. And that's actually what I like about you. You know your place."

I sighed deeply. "Whatever. But you do know in order for me to actually do my job I'll need some replacement hardware."

"That's not a problem. My team actually did you the honors of grabbing all your weapons and equipment from Win's base before we left including your laptop and everything financial. Don't worry we didn't peek at anything, but we will need to know your account number so I can pay you. I'm not in the business of slave labor."

 _I can't believe this asshole is just gonna say what happened happened. It doesn't change the fact that he almost left me to die. But I'm almost in the clear and so are Maurice, Aung, and Elizabeth. I ain't about to fuck that up._

"Ok. Magic question. What's the job?"

"You remember I told you I had a little sister?"

 **Present time:**

 **June 16** **th** **2010 1520 Hours**

 **The Arabian Sea**

"And the rest you know."

Both Lutz and R stared at me with nervous eyes. Which was understandable, I had actually killed more people in the span of one night as opposed to the both of them in their entire time working for Koko or their previous legit military units.

"You did all of that to keep those kids safe and that girl was innocent. I read the news reports out of Myanmar too, nothing's changed in the last five months but you saved three innocent children from all that hell, remember that."

Lutz normally saw the battle from the scope of a rifle, naturally every kill he made was personal whether he wanted to or not. He was effective at offering comforting advice on saving lives. As I nodded in acknowledgment, I continued to hear Koko's shouting.

"Stop walking so fucking slow and get off my ship. I won't say it again, get your crap and move!"

"Ok! Quit shoving I'm going!"

As he was walking on to the brow to the opposite ship Chiquita stopped and looked towards Lehm.

"Wow your actually still alive old man? You really should retire."

"Hello Chiquita, polite as ever."

She then turned to me completely unacknowledging the fact that we're both about ready to kill each other.

" _Mishka,_ go easy on his old ass. I think with him having a younger version of himself working with him might be too hard on his heart."

 _If he was able to handle what I told him. Then I think he'll be fine._

I ignored her and walked towards the brow in my least aggressive stance.

"Kasper! Boobs McGee and the Three Stooges are not gonna keep you safe forever. I will get you back and wipe that damn smile off your face."

I heard R and Lutz snickering but one look from Chiquita quickly turned their faces straight.

"Ok Damien. I'll be sure not to drop by uninvited next time."

 **1845 Hours**

As Kasper's ship sailed off into the sun I stood on the railing with Koko.

"You know that ass wipe tied me up and locked me in a container for almost three days and I nearly died."

"I know and I'm sorry. He's always been like that."

"You know while I saved those kids and while those guys were anything but soldiers. I still killed off an entire base. When I told you I wanted to make a big impact on the world, I didn't necessarily think at the time that I was better at taking lives than actually saving them."

Koko then looked to me with sorrow and pity, she knew I was thinking about how I descended into her world.

"In the darkness, that was the closest time in my life that I actually was at death's door but I'm glad he didn't open it. Then I thought why does the world reject me for wanting to do something right? But then I realized I didn't care, it can't change who I am. It can hate me but I still find beauty in this world, I love it and I don't wanna see wither away and die needlessly. Do you Koko?"

"I...don't think I can answer your question Damien."

 _That's a first, never knew for her to respond with nothing. I guess that's the one thing in what makes all of us similar in the world. We're all unique._

She leaned her head on my shoulder. "I'm still sorry though, you're not mad at me that I didn't tell you he was coming are you?"

"Nah. Forget about it. Mind if I ask where were heading to now?

"We're gonna be at sea a little longer than usual. Destination is South Africa."

"Hmm. Then you know what were gonna cross before we get there. Tell Lehm and Wiley were gonna need to make a plan tomorrow at breakfast. Tell them it's French toast."

She giggled. "Sure."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Hostile Work Environment**

 **June 19** **th** **2010 1100 Hours**

 **Somali Territorial Waters**

Somalia, the name says it all. As the true "Horn of Africa" if you did not tread or sail likely odds are your gonna be impaled in a bad way. It be easier to list nations in Africa that didn't have a civil war, ethnic feuds, severe economic problems, starvation, rampant disease, or just plain stagnant in infrastructure development. Somalia's real problems started in 91 when Mohamed Farah Aidid took an opportunity to seize control of the capital of Mogadishu. The uninfluential and practically non-existent Somali government had totally lost control of their country and ever since then had technically been in a state of sheer anarchy ever since. Effectively declaring Somalia a failed state, the UN made the choice of deploying peacekeepers to provide humanitarian relief but the new guys in charge didn't want them in the country. The real holders of power in the country were the warlords and they proved to be capable of holding their own. That was proved to be a rather valid point during the infamous Raid on Mogadishu in October of 93. My father had a friend in the 75th Rangers that was one of the wounded, he said that no matter what anyone says it was a total fuck up. I made a research paper during my freshman year at West Point about the Raid. I found out that Randy Shughart's father actually called out President Clinton during his son's ceremony for the Medal of Honor. Needless to say the anarchy just continued after the Peacekeepers left. With their fight against the Ethiopian's ending last year and constant skirmishes along the Kenyan border people naturally found the life of violence more of a way to sustain themselves rather than anything else. Since their official primary source of income was fishing and a lot of ships came their way from the Suez canal so not to travel around the African continent piracy kinda made sense. But whoever these guys were, they were about to get a nasty surprise. Trying to board Koko's ship was literally a death sentence.

"Move! Move! Move! Enemy sighted! Battle stations!"

"Yeah I hear ya. I'm moving." Lehm said in his usual bored self.

"That's just the scout boat. They'll be more coming so keep a sharp eye."

Koko was acting as if she was the spotter in the crow's nest on a man o' war while the rest of us were prepping to attack. I was on the starboard side with a 240B. We were quite a distance from the continent but even with the low overcast today I could make out the mainland in the big blue haze in the distance. I pressed my finger on my ear piece as Tojo came on the net.

"Heads up guys. Radar's picked up another boat about three kilometers behind hostile one. ETA is 60 seconds."

Piracy nowadays was not like their golden age in the 17th century. While most cargo ships were run by computers they still needed a crew to function but that didn't mean they were always armed and they moved rather slow. Unless they knew what was on board the ship, pirates normally raided the crew's personal belongings and often took the ships pay roll and port fees and then left. But as highly unlikely as it seemed, if these guys succeeded they would be the first pirates in centuries that could retire with the wealth we had on board. And then Koko would use every resource HCLI had to find these guys, strap them to something heavy and throw them into the ocean.

"Damn pirates! You just made the worst decision of your lives!"

As I heard her shout, I heard a rather crude form of English come from a bullhorn.

"You have one chance! Drop anchor and you live!"

 _Bad idea._

"KEEP DREAMING ASSHAT!"

Her shout made the radio screech but I continued to look from my side, nothing yet. But what I heard though was something I didn't want to. I got on the radio to Tojo.

"Hey Tojo is the radar picking up anything else? Call me crazy but I think these guys got air support."

"I just pinged it. It's coming from the bow and we also got a third boat coming in from the stern."

"Copy. Koko did you catch that were up to four hostiles now."

"I hear you Damien. Ugo, get to the stern port and hit them with an RPG. Mao, Lehm stay on the bridge. Damien once they fire your free to engage."

As I loaded up the first belt the LMG the rotor sound from the chopper was getting closer. It wasn't one I recognized. Whoever these guys were they probably had more money than most pirates. Too bad their investments were about to go up in smoke. Koko came on the net again.

"I got visual on the chopper it's an Oryx! Armed with 80mm rocket pods! Do not give them a chance to fire!"

As the chopper made for the bridge it got a nasty surprise, the business end of the M134 Minigun. With the capability of spitting out up to 6,000 rounds a minute it'll rip and tear through any unarmored target. You also didn't necessarily need to aim in order to kill or destroy whatever you were shooting at. These pirates obviously never had anyone shoot back at them before so naturally their reaction was a little slow. I then heard a blast on the other side of the ship. Then a second from the stern, I saw the third boat on fire.

"We still got one more hostile and I don't see them. Curious, who blew up the first boat?"

"That was me." Wiley answered. "Looks like my pitching arm hasn't lost its mojo."

I suddenly heard a thud on the side of the ship. I turned around and saw a grappling hook, someone stupid enough was trying to get onboard the ship but I saw the boat speeding away. Looks like they saw how much of a bad idea raiding the _Fruition_ was and decided to run. Lutz, Wiley, and R however didn't give them a chance to run as I saw them open fire on them with their rifles. I pulled out my pistol to see who was on the other end of the rope. As I looked over I immediately went from hot to cold. It was a kid, probably not any older than ten with an AK-47 on his back it made him small by comparison.

 _Goddamnit._

"Tafqid bunduqiatan walhusul ealaa ma yasil huna."

(Lose the gun and get up here.)

Arabic was one of the two major languages in Somalia but it looked like he didn't speak it. So I pointed and my pistol and made a gesture for him to get rid of it. The boy was terrified beyond words but he did what I motioned. I grabbed him by his wrist and lifted him up. But then he punched me in the eye and as I let him go he kicked me in the shin. But I grabbed him before he could run. Getting a zip tie out of my fanny pack I heard Koko on the net again. Looked like we we're done.

"Lehm. Finish that bird off!"

The distinct sound of buzzsaw gunfire came to life again and then followed by a heavy splash. The boy was squirming like crazy. Not surprising that a huge man had an iron grip on him he must have thought I was gonna kill him. But there ain't no way I was gonna do that.

"Hey Koko it's me. Get to my position we got a visitor."

The whole group came to where I was at. Naturally everyone was looking at my face, I didn't look but I could feel it. I had a black eye. I did let my guard down and he hit me harder than I thought.

"The little shit punched me. I saved his skinny ass and he punched me. So yeah get it out of your systems."

It took a few seconds but everyone erupted in laughter. All except Koko, she then got on the radio.

"Captain make for the coast. We got some unnecessary cargo."

 **1600 Hours**

As we gathered on the main deck, Koko motioned to me to cut the boy loose. She then grabbed one of the life preservers and began to speak Swahili.

"Unaweza kuogelea huwezi?"

(You can swim can't you?)

She tossed him the life preserver.

"Sisi siyo kwamb mbali na nchi kavu. Hivyo kwenda!"

(We're not that far from land. So go!)

The boy then jumped overboard. As the group split off in different directions, Valmet spoke up.

"You always were merciless when it came to pirates."

"What are you talking about I gave him a life preserver. Anyway hopefully once we get back out to open water it'll be a lengthy trip to South Africa. Final destination is Port Elizabeth!"

"Kaaaay." Our version of the Army's "Hooah".

As we split off I turned around to see Valmet still looking at the coast line. She then raised her hand and placed it over her missing eye. I remembered from overhearing the conversation between her and Mildo about her getting screwed over after an assignment and she left the Finnish army. While that's about all I knew, I think the next piece of the puzzle was here. What I also knew was that I was finally able to interact with on a personal level, everyone in the group but her. It was only natural that I look at her and be amazed by what she could do, anyone would. But since Koko was being a little more clingy around me than when I first started out, I could only assume jealousy. She must have been her favorite, and I hoped she had more of a personality other than a lapdog. I made my way over to her good eye and looked at the landscape with her.

"Enjoying the view? The sunset's at sea do look pretty."

"Yeah so what? You got something to say?"

I sighed. "Look…I already told you but it looks like I'll have to say it again with more conviction. I'm not trying to prove myself as Koko's favorite alpha. I don't care, I just wanna do my job and to do that I need to connect with everyone on this team. And I wanna finish that with you. I heard that you went through a nasty fall out when you were discharged from the Finnish RDP but you pulled yourself up from off the ground and pieced yourself back together. That's true strength, when you recover from failures. And it becomes stronger when you have a team that has your back, that's what I'm gonna do. That's what Koko and the crew will do."

She then placed her hand back on her eyepatch. At least she was absorbing what I was saying this time.

"But I also have to apologize."

"Apologize for what?"

"Putting that pressure on you to keep Koko safe before I did that stupid charge at those Orchestra freaks. I've been working with so many unpleasant people over the last two years I never connected with anyone because I knew they would lead me to darker places. All of you are different, I actually _like_ being around you guys and I want you guys to just keep being yourselves around me and not keep thinking I'm a demon that kills everything I look at."

She then looked at me coldly at first but then she started to relax.

"It _was_ stupid of you to do that. But you did it cause you wanted to save Koko and me. You didn't care what happened to yourself. But a small piece of history for you, we had another one of us that did exactly what you did long before you joined us and I don't wanna see that ever happen again."

"Sounds good, and I won't prod any further than that, I don't wanna bring up any bad memories. But my statement still stands, I like you guys I truly do and I trust you." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Do you trust me?"

She took my hand off her shoulder and smiled. "You saved Koko's life twice and you've had our backs in every fight since you came onboard with us. I do."

I smiled back. "You feeling ok?"

"I am. My scar was just aching that's all. Although I wouldn't mind if Koko offered me a comforting embrace! Koko! I need you to make me feel better!"

As she darted off with the eagerness of a swooning teen I began to chuckle.

 _Deadly man hating killer to giddy school girl who wants to cuddle with her puppy. Well if she's willing to act like that in front of me then I've clicked with the whole team. It is cute when she acts like that I won't lie._

 **June 26** **th** **2010 0930 Hours**

 **Port Elizabeth, South Africa**

The week at sea went by rather uneventful. It was normal life, or about as normal as a mercenary gets when he works for an arms dealer. Not every day was full of heart racing action and people wanting you dead. We were all human beings and we had things we had to do when we weren't working. Clean weapons, shooting practice, exercise, laundry, sale stats on what we sold, the news, all routine. Only thing I really saw was interesting was that Ugo had gotten pretty amped about his new car Koko had to give him to replace his thrashed one. A white Mercedes-Benz S550 worth about $55,000. I always tried not to think about it but it was both amazing and frightening at the same time. The amount of money that we had available to spend, tax free even, made me feel like I was part of the group in the show "Entourage" except I was working with a good and funny group of people and not a bunch of soulless douchebags. But the one good thing I was making progress on was forming good relationships with the team. We all either shared knowledge with each other or just bullshitted for hours on end talking about whatever came to mind. Everyone though was a little surprised on how much better a relationship I formed with Valmet. Some were relieved but others were disappointed that Koko's two favorites weren't gonna fight each other for her affection.

After we got our car's off the ship and our bags packed we started to load up and then go to our hotel. But something was eating me, Koko normally briefed us on what we'd do before we arrive at our destination. But all she said that there was a big contractor and military R&D convention going on and that was it I turned to Tojo as I loaded my bag.

"Hey has Koko told you anything else yet about what we're doing here? I mean she's been acting rather focused as of late. Nothing wrong with that it just has me confused."

"Hmm. Beats me. But Koko's worked with so many people both in and out of the HCLI it's hard to keep track of them. Let's just focus on our usual routine for now."

"Right." I reached behind my waist and checked my .45.

 **1000 Hours**

 **Alexandria Comforts, Koko's Suite**

The traffic towards the hotel was longer than we wanted to but at least what was going on was out of our control. Turns out we arrived during the middle of the games for the FIFA World Cup and Port Elizabeth was hosting one of the games, Uruguay vs South Korea. It also made sense that an arms convention was in town as well during this time. The South African authorities would be more focused on making sure that the games were safe and hopefully not notice that a few shady arms dealers other than Koko would be in Port Elizabeth. A little humbling feeling came over me as I heard that tonight the US was gonna play against Ghana. But I never really found any interest in soccer and we didn't have time to see a soccer game, we were looking for a doctor with a background in computers and robotics. Valmet must have known before the rest of us.

"Dr. Miami huh? You still think she spends all her time chasing butterflies?"

"Probably so, she always did have an obsession with them."

I rolled my eyes and accidentally descended into a personality that matched what I looked like.

"Nerds and their bug collections. She wear coke bottle frames and speak Klingon too?"

Koko looked at me and smiled mischievously, I didn't realize it yet but I set myself up for being caught in my own sarcasm. I did graduate from the US Military Academy when I was 20.

"What do you have against an educated woman? I thought being a prodigy out of West Point means you're a super nerd only infinitely larger and more violent?"

"Honestly I only took the classes and passed them. Doesn't mean I learned anything. And hey am I using any of those credentials now?"

She leaned back in her seat. "Anyway that's who we're meeting tomorrow, Professor Minami Amada, her nickname is Dr. Miami. She specializes in robotics and she's currently down here working in a German toy factory. But almost all of her stuff gets put into military R&D."

I could see where this was going but I didn't understand it. Defense contractors normally have a lot of engineers that are experts in their own fields build weapons for them but Koko was more along the lines of getting those weapons and selling them not making her own. Unless there was something else I missed that HCLI does.

"It seems that you and Professor Amada have done business before, does she work for HCLI on the side?"

"We've met before yes. But for the rest I'm sorry Damien. A girls gotta have some secrets."

She winked at me and I gave up. It was no secret that she had a lot of people on her payroll. I'd figure it out later.

"Ok. Well if we're gonna wait till tomorrow, mind if I get some more pictures for the scrapbook?"

"Sure. But it's your turn to buy us all lunch. Be back by one."

 **June 27** **th** **2010 0700 Hours**

 **Market Square, Port Elizabeth, South Africa**

It was a rather pleasant morning so I had gotten up early to do a distance run. Going around in circles on a ship was starting to get rather boring and I had enjoyed the scenery. I kept a sleeveless shirt on this morning so as not to weird out the locals. As I was running past people getting ready for the day it felt like had landed back in the real world for a moment. Considering over 25 years ago this entire nation was under control of apartheid the country of South Africa got back on track to being part of the civilized world and the human race rather well. Growing up in a military family that stretched back to the First World War taught me that we are all truly the same, we are all human beings. It's who each of us are individually that makes us different and no matter who I've talked to in my life I always judge them on their character.

After my run I decided to finish by running up the steps to the roof. It was getting a little stuffy in the stairs and stepped outside when I got to the top. I then heard heavy breathing along with counting then hearing Africa over and over again. I glanced over behind a vent system and I saw Valmet doing push-ups with one arm.

 _Jesus. Even I have problems trying to maintain my balance like that but she's straight as a plank._

As any man would I then stared in awe as she stood on both her hands. Looks like today we shared a preference for black and sleeveless. While she was sweating profusely she remained just as rigid. I then noticed wings centered on her left shoulder but the rest was covered up. I hoped unlike me she got that and not really regret it later.

"Damn I lost count."

I spoke up. "A little lesson from Muhammad Ali, don't count your reps. Only start counting when it starts to hurt."

She got out of her pose and then landed back on her feet.

"Morning Damien, you out for a run?"

"Just got back. Wanted to finish running up and down the stairs when I heard you."

I then placed my hand on my left shoulder. Indicating her own ink.

"That one on your back have any significance? Family Crest?"

"No I got it when I was the commander of a Mechanized Jager Company back when I was still a Major in the FRDP. My older brother was in command of a different Jager Battalion."

"Hmm. I gotta ask, military family?"

She looked at the ground and shut her eye. Probably thinking of days long past.

"Yes. My father is currently the Chief of Defence, I don't know if he made Commander in Chief yet or not."

 _Her dad is the head guy for the entire Finnish army? Granted not as big as the US but as comparing levels of military power the only two people above the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is SECDEF and the President._

"I think I sympathize with the heavy family burden. You know this one on my right arm?"

"Yeah, it's a representation of your fathers old unit in the United States Special Forces."

I let my head sink between my shoulders as if I was about to admit something embarrassing.

"Well probably except for Koko already knowing, what I didn't tell everyone else was that he's also the senior tactical operations officer for the entire US SOCOM. He has clearance for damn near everything and he only answers directly to either SOCOM's commander in chief or the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff."

Her reaction was what I expected, it was of both shock and understanding. No matter how you spin it we were both the children of great nobles that wanted to follow them into their life cause we thought it sounded like a great adventure only we both failed miserably and were cast out.

I then decided to get both of us out of these depressing memories.

"But you know what it's too early in the morning to be thinking of old shit. Since we're both here, you got any more exercise you wanna do?"

"I think I have an idea, here." She tossed me a rubber practice knife. "Wanna practice with me?"

 _Oh boy, this could go very wrong or very long, neither of which are good._

"I know you're an excellent knife fighter but when it comes to this I don't play fair."

"Who said I asked you to do that? Come on." She then got in a defensive stance.

 _I might as well get this over with and pray to God she doesn't pull out a real blade._

"Alright, you make the first move then."

Like hand to hand combat, knife fighting was considered to be a last resort. You primary goal was to get back to your weapon and kill your enemy. There was no time for any fancy epic duel and the only unfair fight was the one you lost. As a green beret we were taught to move silently and dispatch our enemies without being seen. But normally we would use our hands if we wanted to take our target alive and we always had a team to do that. Both skills however were perishable, and I had an excellent partner to train with. Most amateur knife fighters held a blade like they did a sword. Sure you could slash and stab but the energy in your attacks wasn't as effective and a skilled fighter could block your attacks easily. Pro's and those that understood knife fighting held their blade like an ice pick and used it like if you were to punch. That's what she did when she came at me with a straight. But with my knife hand I blocked it out of my way, moved slightly to her right and made a light jab with the rubber blade just at the neck. Valmet then came at me with a hook but after she swung I took my left hand and grabbed her elbow and then pushed forward with another strike to the throat. But I knew she was testing the water. She wanted to get a read on how I fought, I decided to answer for her.

"To answer what those moves were is that they are part of Keris Lok Nine. It's a specific variety of martial art from Malaysia called Silat. Sure my operator training is part of it but I like to broaden my horizons on how I fight."

"Very interesting. I think this might be the first time I get a real workout."

"Happy to oblige. You wanna keep going first?"

"No. Your turn."

The fight was now about to get serious. Valmet had a much different look on her face then from when she fought Mildo. She held her knife against her face and reached back as if she were preparing to throw a straight, her blocking arm out front, feet shoulder with apart, chin down, and her good eye keeping me in sight. I placed my left foot behind me, chin down, knife hand forward, blocking hand behind.

 _It's strange but I think both of us are gonna have fun learning about each other._


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 Blades and Butterflies**

 **June 27** **th** **2010 0900 Hours**

 **Alexandria Comforts, Port Elizabeth, South Africa**

Koko had checked her watch wondering where Valmet and Damien were.

"Where are those two? It's after breakfast and they still haven't come back from their exercise."

"I just checked both their rooms and nothings missing. Valmet did say she was gonna be up early but she never left the building."

"Thanks R. Did you try their cells?"

"I got them both right here." He held up two smart phones that highlighted missed calls.

"Ugh! We gotta be at DIESA by one and with the soccer games going on we gotta leave an hour early! What are they doing!?" She shouted as she was messing up her hair.

Suddenly Lutz burst open the door.

"Guys! The roof! Damien's fighting Valmet!" He said hysterically.

As everyone literally dropped what they were doing and bolted out of Koko's suite in a scramble to follow Lutz only Lehm and Koko remained but Lehm had a wide grin on his face.

"I didn't say who was gonna start it, I just said it was gonna happen eventually. Five bucks, pay up."

Koko pulled out a five dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to Lehm.

"Just make sure they stop whatever the hell they're doing and not give the rest of the guys the fight of the century. We do have to meet with Dr. Miami."

After lighting his next cigarette, Lehm slowly made his way to the roof, the rest of the crew looking in awe ducked down behind the vent shafts. Damien and Valmet had lost the rubber knives and were going full contact. Their clothes were torn, they were both covered in scrapes and bruises, and were both utterly exhausted. Neither had wanted to back down.

Damien then took a swing but Valmet looped her left arm around his and followed up with a knee to his gut. But Damien caught her leg and lifted her over his head in a suplex. Valmet let her grip go and stuck her landing. Damien then attempted a down strike stomp but missed. Valmet then came forward with a series of a combination of hooks, elbow strikes and uppercuts finishing up with a reverse summersault kick that caught Damien in the chest. Regaining his stance Damien then moved forward with jabs and a forward step kick finishing up with a palm strike that caught Valmet in the nose. The rest of the crew looked on baffled and whispered.

"How long have they been doing this?" R.

"I'm guessing a while." Lutz.

"I feel like I'm watching a fight from Mortal Kombat." Ugo.

Getting back in defensive stances Damien raised his arm as if he was about to hammer a nail but his right leg was leaning back as if he was about to sprint. With a dash he sprung towards Valmet bringing his knee up and his elbow down and the same time. The knee connected but Valmet caught his arm, using the moment when he was only standing on one leg she knocked him off his feet and placed him in arm bar.

"I've had enough of this Damien! You decided to hit harder! Now I got no choice!"

"URRGH! Me!? You're the one who decided to stomp on my foot and head butt me! _I've_ had enough!"

Using his size and strength to his advantage Damien managed to slide his leg into a position as if he was on one knee. Grabbing Valmet's leg's with his free arm and a monstrous bellow leaned up and gained the momentum he needed to get on his feet while holding Valmet in the air above his shoulders and brought her down on to the roof in a move similar to a power bomb in wrestling. Naturally Valmet let go but Damien backed away too slow and caught a knee to the head. Both got some distance between them and were going to try again.

"Felt that from over here." Wiley.

"Brutal." Mao.

"Lehm, I think we ought to stop this." Tojo.

"Just a few more moves. Neither one of them is about to last much longer anyway."

Both Damien and Valmet were breathing heavily and trying not to buckle under their own weight. It looked like neither of them wanted to admit that they looked weak in front of the other. Both of them had their eye's locked on each other. There wasn't anything else in their world right now other than the two of them.

Both of them bared their teeth and growled and held out there arms as if they were going to grapple but they both locked arms. Muscles tightened, vein's popped out, and teeth gritted but neither of them moved. Suddenly then both of them connected heads with a thud and splat from the sweat and blood. Both still held their ground and the rest of the crew looked on holding their breath.

"Ok this is getting boring." Lehm let out a puff of his cigarette and walked forward. "Ok you two! Enough's enough! Koko needs you two downstairs now."

They both looked over to him as if they both came out of a trance. Their heads and hands still connected. It then dawned on both of them that they were being watched and that they had been on the roof longer than they thought.

"Koko wants you both downstairs and get ready to go. We're leaving for DIESA in an hour."

As Lehm turned around everyone sprinted from the cover of the vents and headed back down stairs. Damien and Valmet got out of their lock and both looked at each other with embarrassed looks on their faces.

"Let's just pretend this never happened." He winced in pain. "Oh God everything sounds like an echo."

"Agreed. I'm actually looking at three of you right now. One is bad enough."

Knowing they were both in a lot of pain, they both agreed that today nobody won.

"We _will_ have to make ourselves look presentable for the day though. And I got a feeling we'll be late cause we'll be patching ourselves up."

"Yeah. Let's hit the showers."

It was unknown whether she had head trauma or not she set the bait and naturally even in great pain Damien took it.

"Uhh…I don't think that's a good idea. That will be the easiest way you'll try to kill me."

Realizing what she just set herself up for she just let the annoyance sink in.

"Just shut up and get cleaned up."

 **1100 Hours**

 **DIESA Weapons Expo**

After cleaning up and doing my best to cover up that I had been in a two hour brawl with a one eyed Wonder Woman we arrived at the weapons convention. I saw Koko acting a little disappointed as if she forgot something but that didn't irk me. I guess it was because after she gave me and Valmet a good screaming she couldn't afford to blow off any more energy. She then checked her watch.

"What's wrong?" Lehm asked.

"I'm not sure. I know it's not our time for the meeting yet but I got a feeling she's not going to show up."

"Another five bucks says she won't."

As I overheard that Lehm had probably placed a bet on both me and Valmet I then overheard a car park and an African woman in a brown overcoat called out Koko's name.

"Miss Hekmatyar! I don't know what to say. I'm terribly sorry."

"Hey Malin it's been a while."

"I came to deliver a message from the Doctor."

"Don't bother. If you're here then that means she's off on one of her butterfly hunts again isn't she?"

"It is but we also have an unrelated matter to discuss."

As we headed inside the expo we all took our positions to look like we weren't body guards. I was rather amazed at some of the hardware that they had. From tanks, to self-propelled guns, to APC's and even unmanned drones. This convention seemed like it was rather legit, granted there were defense contractors in the world that operated within _legal_ parameters.

"A Chinese man?" Koko asked.

"Yes an older man with a cane and his younger female assistant. While they both paid frequent visits to the doctor the woman had a very piercing gaze and was rather beautiful. They take her out to eat frequently along with Mokoena but she doesn't say what they talked about. She texted me the GPS coordinates on where she was gonna be at. Somewhere near Cathedral Peak."

 _That far north east? Whoever this Chinese guy was he had to be bad news._

After I was done glancing over an M198 Howitzer we headed inside their were kiosks everywhere. There were too many companies to even name.

"These guys showing off all their latest prototypes?" I asked.

"Not really. Just upgrade packages for different types of weapons, but not before long that's gonna change."

From an economic standpoint it made sense. Unless there was a full scale war going on and one side had to get the technological advantage over their enemy it made no sense to spend piles of money on the next generation weapon. Perfect example was the US Air Force spending several billion dollars on the F22 and F35 fighters. There was no need for them since there was no other air force, other than our allies and other nuclear powers, that could match us. Why spend so much when you could just get better upgraded versions of F15's or F18's.

As we continued to look around I felt another squeezing hug from behind and a head rubbing against my spine. I did my best not to react from the pain of the injuries I still had from earlier when Valmet punched me in the back three times.

"Ugh. What now Koko?"

"Sorry love. But I'm not your boss. Hey what happened to your ponytail?"

I recognized the voice instantly and confirmed it when I looked behind me. Mildo.

 _Oh God. What is she doing here?_

"And your face? What happened to you?"

"Long morning. Don't ask." I said with frustration.

I then heard another familiar voice call out. "Well well if it isn't Koko Hekmatyar, what a coincidence."

Koko then turned around. "President Currie."

 _Oh God. Please do let this be a repeat of the Caucuses where only this time an actual gunfight takes place._

But strangely enough that didn't happen he acted like he didn't even care that we ditched his crew to get shot at by a Georgian PMC.

"Now that's enough now Mildo. Let go of Mr. Andrushko."

As Mildo let me go, Koko approached Currie.

"Convention going well for you this year?"

"Honestly this was a waste of my time. I'm going to pull out of South and East Africa in the foreseeable future." He then checked his watch. "I'm sorry but our time is going to be rather short, I have to go now."

I then felt Mildo's hand on my chest.

"Ta Love! Be careful." She whispered.

As soon as she said that most of the patrons were clearing away. Naturally that meant some bigshot was coming in next. Koko and I then turned to the entrance where we saw an older man with a cane and a Chinese accent, bodyguard in tow but not a woman.

"Good afternoon Miss Hekmatyar. You are her?"

"I am."

"I'm Guoming Chan of the Tashinhai Trading Company in Hong Kong."

He reached out his hand for a handshake but her reaction said it better. I didn't need to figure it out, this was the guy that wanted to get to Dr. Miami. She kept up her professional attitude but I had recognized long before that when she started acting a little too polite that she definitely didn't want it go any further than that.

"I hate to impose upon your schedule but I was wondering if you could schedule a meeting with me later tonight? Perhaps over dinner?"

Koko then acted like a excited child who wanted to go to Disney Land.

"Make it high end Chinese and you got a deal!"

He then chuckled. "You're a fascinating young woman. I'm sorry but that's all I wanted to see you for. As you can see I have problems standing for long periods. Does 8 o'clock sound good?"

"Perfect! I'll see you then."

As we left the convention not long after Chan did. Lehm went to talk to Koko and she handed him a piece of paper. I walked over after she left with Ugo.

"What's the plan old man?"

"I suggest dressing warm."

 **1830 Hours**

 **Highway N5 En Route to Cathedral Peak, South Africa**

The road trip to get Dr. Amada was for lack of a better word, shitty. Even though I was trained in airborne ops I had not made a real jump in two years but what I did not miss was being crammed in a plane with no damn place to stretch. It was even worse when you had to make a seven hour road trip with eight people, in one friggin car! We actually argued more than we planned the whole way up there. At least Lutz agreed with me but unlike me his whining was getting on my nerves.

"Seriously. Who's bright idea was it to send eight people up to the mountains in _one_ SUV? I mean with Damien it's like putting another person in here so it's like nine."

"I can make it eight again by tying your scrawny ass to the roof you _deutschebag_."

"WHY YOU!"

As Lutz pulled my hair and I was pulling at his face, Lehm got the groups attention.

"Alright you two clowns enough! We're about an hour from where were going. So this is the woman were going to go get out of danger."

He then held up a photo of a Japanese woman with glasses and light brown chestnut hair.

"And if anyone tries to get in our way well then…we eliminate them."

 _Why did the inside of the car just get cold?_

 **2000 Hours Near**

 **Cathedral Peak**

After we had changed into our snow slash woodland gear we moved out to find the doctor. I was actually surprised that there was some light snow on the ground for this time of year. But given the fact we were a few thousand meters above sea level and it was already dark it was naturally gonna be colder. That didn't stop Lutz's bitching however.

"Come on. I'd like to find this doctor before my balls freeze off."

"Oh for God's sake. I remember the winter's in New York state that were abysmally colder than this. Come on Valmet back me up! Doesn't Finland on average get like below freezing in the winters every year?"

"I have to agree with him Lutz, I'm not feeling anything."

Lutz gave up and we kept on moving. The valley around the mountain was rather open with wood lines everywhere and trees growing around the landscape rather sporadically. There were a lot of places to hide, being naturally prepared for anything I hooked on my NVG's and scanned around us, nothing. Snipers could hit us a mile away. They could be hidden under the snow waiting for us around the next bend. Or they could have placed a claymore behind a shrub and then lit us up. My soldiers sixth sense was picking up again, we were being followed but where I didn't know.

"What do you think Damien? You see anyone out there?"

"Yeah I put the number around ten. But you shouldn't be asking me that, it's better to figure that out on your own."

Lutz's face then soured and I heard Valmet laugh. It was the first time I heard her laugh at any of my sarcasm.

"He got you there Lutz! I think you might wanna stop challenging Damien on who's the better smart ass cause you losing badly."

"Aw shut up. And since when are you two friends all of a sudden? This morning you were ready to kill each other."

"Keep your voices down." Lehm spoke up. "This ain't no goddamn field trip."

We kept going towards the coordinates we were given by Koko. But I still couldn't shake the feeling we were being followed. What's worse we could have led them right to Professor Amada and she would be caught in the crossfire.

 _Ahh fuck it. I gotta know for sure. Next time I bring my thermal scope. The snow can help me see better at night so at least I can pick out where they're firing from._

"Hey Tojo."

"Yeah?"

"I just wanna be 100% positive. Professor Amada's nickname is Dr. Miami right?"

"Yes why?"

I switched my 416 to full auto and started shouting.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR MIAMI!"

"Everyone take cover!" Lehm shouted.

"DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR MIAMI!"

I then opened fire on the hillside in short bursts at separate locations. Recon by fire was not normally a tactic you used in the field since you would give yourself away first. But if your enemy already knew you were there all you had to do was make a gamble and if you were lucky then your enemy would pop and make an easy target. My gamble paid off tonight, fire then erupted from the tree line.

"Ya'll are very much welcome."

"Not the way I would have wanted it but whatever ambush they were planning failed."

Lehm checked to see if his M40A5 was loaded and our little fire fight opened up. There was no cover between where we were at and the tree line so we hunkered down where we were at until we had to move. About two minutes into the fight I heard a something drop behind me. I saw a weapon on the ground, it was Valmet's Styer AUG. But what I saw next brought back the memories I was not too fond of, the look on her face. It was full of utter blood lust there was nothing in her eye the intention to kill. I knew because it was the same face I made two years ago.

"Valmet? Talk to me."

She didn't answer and she sprinted off running to the enemies left flank.

"FUCK! Guy's cover me! I'm gonna get Valmet!"

"What the hell's she doing!?" R shouted on the radio as I ran after her.

"I don't know. I'll drag her ass back and you can ask her yourself!"

She was moving faster than I could keep up. But whatever it was it was personal. And I unknowingly just got involved in it.

 **2010 Hours**

 **Golden Horn Chinese Restaurant, Port Elizabeth**

While the team was focusing on rescuing the doctor. Koko was eating with Chan, but they also had some unexpected guests. Scarecrow was actually good at his job in finding dirty money. When he saw that Koko was in South Africa as well, he saw it as a bonus.

"This eggroll is delicious! I've never had one like this before!"

"The shrimp that they use are caught in Cape St. Francis and always use fresh vegetables. This place wants to make a superior stand in how it presents its cuisine." Chan added while lighting a cigar.

"The spring rolls are great as well! Crispy yet chewy at the same time. Ugo! Think we should bring the whole crew here next time?"

"Sure boss why not."

With one of Chan's men sitting across from him, Ugo was trying his best to keep a straight face. He knew he was by himself with Koko. The whole crew was out to get Dr. Miami and Chan probably had a whole army with him.

"I wish Damien was here with us. He's missing out."

Ugo then turned to a waiter presenting a bottle of wine and he stood up.

"Wait no! Please Miss Hekmatyar does not care for wine tonight."

 _Not that I'd ever admit it to her face but she's a very nasty drunk._

"Quite admirable that your men place a good value on your health. You mentioned the name Damien. Was he that rather large fellow with the long brown hair I met with you this afternoon?"

"He is. He's the newest member to my crew but he's proven to be one of my best employees."

In the adjacent room. Two CIA agents were listening in on their conversation. Scarecrow and his new partner, a young woman name Schokolade with a rather healthy appetite.

"Aw come on. Booze and food. Borrring. Schokolade can't you help me out? We need something juicy."

"What do you want me to do about it I can't make them magically say what you want them to."

Scarecrow's newest partner was a woman in her late twenties with blonde hair, blue eyes, and seductive figure. She fit the physical profile of a femme fatale but personality wise she was more like an eager college grad wanting to see the world.

"You didn't think they'd be given special treatment here? God why can't Langley send me a useful assistant. Now I got stuck with a gluttonies bimbo."

True to his personality Schokolade responded by throwing a water chestnut at his face.

"I ain't no damn bimbo. It took a little bit of skill to get in that room and bug it so shut the hell up. And by the way everyone back at the Company was right, you are a tremendous dick."

Scarecrow was doing his best not to lose his temper. He needed information on both Koko and Chan but the eavesdrop was going nowhere.

"I also have to agree with Koko. The spring rolls are excellent!"

 **2030 Hours**

 _Goddamnit! What the fuck is she doing?!_

As Valmet was trading fire with whoever the hell that woman was darting between the trees I was busy trying not to get killed by holding off the enemy on their flank. I managed to keep moving by using the multiple trees as cover and firing in different places. My NVG's gave me a clear picture of them but they couldn't see me. If these were Chan's men, they were totally unprepared.

"Lehm it's me! You copy?"

"I hear you Damien. The hell is Valmet doing?"

I then put a burst through one that got a little too close. That was one down but a lot more were still out there.

"She's fighting who I think is their leader. I tried getting her attention but I got a problem holding off their flank. I think you guys can move in closer, they don't seem to have night vision, but they're armed with Chinese T81 Rifles. They're Chan's men!"

"Roger. You heard the man, move up!"

 **2040 Hours**

Koko had ignored Ugo's plea not to drink and she was already starting to show signs. Ugo then shrank in his seat on not being more insistent.

"You know I would love to share a bottle with your brother sometime."

She then let out a laugh. "That wouldn't be too wise. My brother always guzzles his drinks rather than savoring them. Doesn't matter whether it has alcohol in it or not. He also has a poor appetite and hardly eats anything but junk food, not that I don't enjoy a greasy burger every now and then."

"I've not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hekmatyar in person. But some of my associates in Asia have had the opportunity.

It the opposite room, Scarecrow breathed a sigh of relief.

"Bout time. Now that they've got some drinks in them we're getting somewhere."

"Don't you think that this is a little too convenient?"

She asked but he was staring off as if not paying attention.

"Hello? Scarecrow? You in there?"

"What?"

"Chan claims to be a legit businessman but he just admitted to being involved with the arms trade. And it seems that he has more than one connection."

"That's the reason why we bugged him in the first place. Just let me listen and don't freak out. But still this guy is fronting an honest business and running guns at the same time. I need to find out how."

Back in the VIP section, Chan and Koko continued in their conversation.

"I know that you and your brother operate in very different ways. I first figured that out when I had those meetings with Dr. Amada. If I may be so bold what is laying beyond the horizon for HCLI as well as yourself since you've had frequent meetings with her?"

"That's a secret." She said bluntly.

"I can't help but think we're after the exact same thing. I was thinking we'd both work together in that goal."

"I'm afraid I'll have to pass."

"Well let me say this. If someone has tied your hands in this matter I can help you break free."

She didn't answer. Instead she finished her glass.

 **2055 Hours**

The fighting was going on for almost an hour now. But it wasn't as hectic as it first started, we suffered no casualties and had already taken three of them out. The crew had managed to move in closer and take the pressure off of me and I gave up on trying to get to Valmet. I did manage to get a quick quip from her saying that the enemy leader had reminded her of the fighting style that decimated her group when she was deployed. I couldn't get to her even if I wanted to since there was no cover between us and them and we were still under fire. They were in the middle of a snow field. I was hunkered down near R and Lutz, R was keeping an eye on both of them.

"I knew she was good but damn. I couldn't fight like that in a million years."

"If she can hold her ground against me for two hours with her bare hands she can take out that gun fu bitch no problem."

When I had got a good look at the woman and what she was using I immediately though she was just wanting to look cool in a fight but combat is not supposed to be pretty. Bayonet's had completely lost their influence on the battlefield since the First World War. Even though they were used frequently in the Second World War and were still being taught to some extent after that, there was no use for them anymore. Since most weapons nowadays could kill you from 500 meters out you had to want to die if you used bayonet charges. Pistol bayonets to me was just some stupid redneck concept of wanting to look badass while you were shooting. Even if you used those in real life you would have to sneak up extra close to your enemy and take him completely by surprise. Even if you wanted to slit his throat you would have to be doubly sure you didn't accidentally fire and alert everyone else or shoot yourself, if that happened they'd be dead weight. The scary part of any of that though was that woman was proving me wrong. What was even scarier was that Valmet was dodging her shots, she was moving even faster than our little scuffle on the roof this morning. Even though the practice got out of hand I did my best not to go full force. I wondered how much potential she had. But I to worry about the fight in front of me and that included Lutz's little game he decided to play with me as the crew's biggest smart ass.

"You were bruised up and bleeding more than she was. I don't think that qualifies as her holding her ground she was kicking your ass-AW SHIT!"

R and I both looked to Lutz and where he was gripping and I often wondered even in the current predicament my life turned out to be if life just handed me things to be comedic with.

"And yours just got shot."

I then noticed that the shooting died down considerably I then poked my head slightly above the brush with my NVG's. One of the bastards did the stupid idea of standing up and moving. I then made my way over to Lehm.

"Guy's stay down and don't shoot back I got an idea. Keep an eye on Valmet too."

"Got it." R said.

As I made my way over to Lehm I saw him reloading his sniper rifle.

"Hey Lehm, I think the random gunfire is starting to get to them you see?"

"Combat fatigue is probably wearing them down. And you're right they're breaking cover."

"I got a sneaking suspicion that none of these guys had ever done any type of field ops other than keeping VIP's safe. Big difference between fighting in nature rather than an urban environment."

"You have an idea?"

"Yeah." I then got on the radio. "Guys it's me. I got a plan, hold your fire and play dead. Lehm and I are gonna play sniper. Solid?"

"Got it."

"Copy."

"I hear ya."

"Nice."

"Aw damn! Ugh…yeah."

I then pulled out my binoculars. "I spot you, you shoot?"

Lehm's grin was all I needed. I took my binos and scanned the brush line near the trees.

"Target. Center of the brush line."

 _Bang_

"Hit. Target. Exiting the tree line on our left flank."

 _Bang_

"Hit. Target. Moving along the brush line towards the left."

 _Bang_

"Hit. Target. Running towards our right flank."

Lehm let out a sigh. "One moment of weakness and your dead. But that's combat for ya, cruel and ugly."

 _Bang_

 **2110 Hours**

"Hekmatyar's going to the bathroom now. She's probably gonna use this chance to call her people. Better follow her."

Schokolade got up and headed off to the women's room and closed herself in a stall and waited.

"Ugh this sucks. Why do I always get the crappy jobs."

Then her stall door started rattling obsessedly.

"Ahh! Hey! Someone's in here!"

She then looked up and saw who was above her stall door.

"Schokolade correct?"

"Koko!? Wait how do you even know who I am?"

"I made it a reason to check into Scarecrows known associates since my run in with him in Dubai." She said as she leaped over the door.

"Hey I'm on the can here! What do you want!?"

"Calm down I just have a message you should give your boss."

 **2115**

 _Bang_

"Ok that's the last one, just gotta-DAMIEN WAIT!"

I didn't give Lehm a chance to answer as I sprinted over to where Valmet and Chan's team leader were fighting. They were still going at it. I decided to end the fight, but not in a way that Valmet would kick my ass for later. Switching my carbine to single shot, I placed two shots behind the woman with the bayonet pistols. Seizing the moment, Valmet moved in and slashed her underarm. Then kicked the other pistol out of her hand and cut her left thigh. She screamed in pain as Valmet landed a kick in her gut.

"You make a lot of noise. If you've got the strength to scream then you got the strength to talk and you can start by telling me your name."

 _She didn't even see where those shots came from. That's it I'm ending this, looks like I'm about do what Lehm did to me._

I wasn't exactly quiet when I was walking to her but she continued to shout at the woman on the ground.

"I haven't cut your throat yet! Can you hear me!? You just plain weak! WEAK! WE-AUGH!"

"And you're clueless!" I shouted with a straight kick to her back as I turned to the other woman. "You move. You die!"

"Urggh…DAMIEN!" She looked up to me even more pissed off.

"Don't even start. You remember you told me how stupid it was to charge into a fight like that what do you think you just did!? That kick could have been one of her men! You didn't even check to see where those shots came from! You could have gotten killed! Don't you remember that this team doesn't do fights to the death!?"

Valmet just stared at me in anger but she knew I was right. Her forehead bleeding from her fight she stood up tightening her grip on her knife and my finger not off my carbine's trigger. But then Lehm spoke up, same thing as this morning.

"That's enough you two. We still got a mission to complete." He said rather calmly. "And you should be thanking Damien, it was his quick thinking that allowed us to take out her team."

"So let's go." I then turned to the woman on the ground. "You run along home to your master and tell him to back off."

She then looked at me with skepticism but I decided to put her mind at ease.

"Relax, you won't have to look over your shoulder. I'm not a murderer."

 _Anymore._

"No hold on. She knows something about my past."

Lehm then lit a cigarette. "So what you gonna take her with us and torture her until she talks. That's not how we operate."

Frustrated she put her hand over her missing eye. I took out a field dressing and placed it on her head.

"I've heard this speech from him already and I don't wanna hear it again. Your better than this, you proved that when you were kicking my ass this morning."

I managed to get another smile out of her and she then looked to the woman on the ground.

"Sucks doesn't it? Right now you're in the same position I was in. Let that one soak in."

As we backed away from her she spoke up.

"Karen Low, that's my name. I'm a Lieutenant in the People's Liberation Army. That's the name of the woman who will kill you."

Valmet went to answer but I stood in front of her.

"Your gonna have to go through me, and the rest of us first, you red commie bitch."

As I turned around I winked my eye at Valmet, she rolled hers.

 **2122 Hours**

Scarecrow was furious that Koko had gotten the drop on Shokolade.

"You bimbo! What kind of bullshit did Hekmatyar put in your head? My job is to take the money that those crooks worked to get and ensure that justice is served swiftly. Not give it back to them. Now I know Chan is a dangerous man he's probably got more people killed than I can count. But I got things under control we're leaving Port Elizabeth alive."

"Terrific so this guys a killing machine? Wouldn't it be safer to throw in our lot with Koko?"

"What?"

"Think about this for a second. If Chan kills Hekmatyar you won't get a cent out of her. We are out of time here!"

Scarecrow had no idea what to say and he knew she was right.

It the opposite room, Koko's phone rang.

"Sorry do you mind. This might be important. Koko here."

"Not to worry I have a call coming in anyway."

They both answered their sat-phones, listened to their conversations and both hung up at the same time. While Koko's face was calm, despite blushing from the wine, Chan's eye's squinted in anger but he kept his face straight.

"I think it's time we called it a night. I thank you for the dinner it was great."

Chan then stood up with his cane supporting his weight.

"It was my pleasure. I thank you again for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me. I do hope we can do this again in the future. You'll understand if I don't walk you out."

"Of course. Come on Ugo!"

As Koko and Ugo left Chan nodded to his bodyguard

"Si ge mubiao. Koko, ta de baobiao he liang ge meiguo ren."

(Four targets. Koko, her bodyguard, and the two Americans.)

Unable to hide his anger from his lieutenants report of their failure Chan screamed in anger and fell to the floor. Koko heard it in the hallway.

"Looks like he couldn't wait till we got out of the building."

"Something happen?" Ugo asked.

"Don't worry. The crew came out on top and I've even procured us a ride out of here."

As they exited the restaurant, Scarecrow and Schokolade waiting outside as the wind began to pick up.

"Koko! Over here!"

"Move your lily white ass!"

Scarecrow was not too pleased. But Koko kept her calm and just walked outside like business as usual as a UH-60 Blackhawk just touched down.

"See that? Thank you Scarecrow I didn't know you cared!"

"Shut the hell up and get on board before I change my mind."

Back inside Chan's bodyguard told his boss what happened.

"Tamen zai zhishengji shang xiaoshilie."

(They got a way in a helicopter.)

"Gaisi di nage nuren!"

(Damn that woman!)


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait, so as a bonus I'll be uploading two chapters this time. Lets just say duty calls and next month it will call again. I'm almost finished with a certain back story and then once the original story has ended I'll create new adventures.

 **Carlos Inferno:** To answer your two questions; yes on your review and no on your email, not that kind of story. Not to bash Jonah or anything but more often than not he looked like he had a constant Nicholas Cage type of expression all the time and his emotions swung around all over the place and in some parts seemed out of context with the situation around him. But that's just me.

 **pwashington:** First off it's "Valmet" come on bro. And yes you are correct, her speed and agility are practically unmatched. If you recall what Lutz and Damien said, she was kicking his ass.

 **Vengeful Soldier:** Appreciate it. And I bet like you I'm goin nuts waiting on BlueWay to get to the next chapter of "Manifest Destiny".

 **Chapter 13 Out of the Forge and into the Oil**

 **June 28** **th** **2010 0800 Hours**

 **Near Dr. Amada's coordinates, South Africa**

After the fire fight and a fifty percent guard the previous night I was hoping we'd find the doctor sooner rather than later. But I would be lying if I didn't say that the next valley over was rather beautiful. Rolling green pastures leading up to the mountains with flowers of multiple varieties everywhere. The one thing that confirmed that we were close to Amada was that there were butterflies everywhere. Only to be further confirmed by a shout.

"WHOOOHOO!"

We all heard in the distance and I took point.

"Yeah that's her. Five will get you twenty if I'm wrong."

"Easy Damien she's not alone." Wiley said behind me.

As I moved towards the sound of her voice I heard her speak. She was running right to me.

"There might be a new species out here! HA!"

As she caught one of the bugs she obviously didn't know I was standing in front of her.

"Yep you're Prof Amada."

As she fell back screaming on her ass I signaled to the team.

"Hey guys I just found Doctor Scientist."

As Lehm was ordering the crew to clear the area, Professor Amada's bodyguard Mokoena helped her regain her composure. She then looked up to me.

"Your one of Koko's men? What's your name?"

"I'm Damien. And we're heading back to Port Elizabeth now. Koko needs to talk with you face to face."

"We're a little far away it will take a day to get back. Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

"If you know Koko she can pull stuff out of her ass on a whim. Lehm!?"

He was on his own sat-phone. "ETA is 60 seconds. Everyone put on your balaclavas! Wiley pop smoke!"

I practically gave up on weird shit popping out of nowhere or benefiting us. Koko had a knack for pulling off miracles and this had to be the biggest one. From what Lehm told me during a call he received last night before we bedded down was that she managed to wrangle a chopper from the CIA and get us back to Port Elizabeth much faster. It didn't however make me feel any less nervous that I was gonna ride in a bird with the agency that wanted my head on a platter. But in a twist of good luck it was actually Scarecrow who had cleared the bird to come and get us. Considering that he was still just as empty headed as I hoped he was the danger wasn't that extreme. Koko also told me his newest partner was brand new to the agency but she said to not get into the details of who it was or how the said person managed to convince Scarecrow to help her out. But we weren't taking any chances and we all wore our balaclavas, it was also a plus that all of us knew more than one language so we could confuse the pilots. As the smoke continued to rise I heard a distinct engine sound of a UH60. But as it started to land in the field we then got an obsessive scientist to transform into a mad scientist.

"AHHHH! NO! YOUR BLOWING ALL THE BUTTERFLIES AWAY! GET THAT METAL MONSTROSITY OUT OF HERE!"

"Doctor! Calm down!"

As her bodyguard was trying to get ahold of her Professor Amada was yelling random gibberish and, for lack of a better explanation, gone totally fucking ape shit. Koko was right, her obsession with the bugs were a bit disturbing.

"That's our ride. Everyone onboard!"

Lehm gave the rallying signal and we boarded one at a time, Mokoena keeping a firm hold on the hysterical Doctor Miami.

 **0930 Hours**

 **En route back to Port Elizabeth**

With a cruising speed of 170 mph we were making even faster time than when we were getting to the mountain. However we had to leave our car behind since Koko had implied urgency that she kinda pissed off Chan last night from our little fight in the mountains. Well technically it was us that pissed him off since we killed his men and crippled his Lieutenant. But at least Dr. Miami had settled down, she then lit a cigarette rather but after hanging around Lehm I could tell she was not a chain smoker. The mission that took to getting this toy maker was too much time and effort, curious to a fault I needed to know what this was really all about. I learned from experience that the need to know basis spiel was always a load of shit in the end. I needed to know what Koko wanted with Amada. Seeing as how the pilots were having a problem understanding what we saying, they had to since Scarecrow was still technically wanting to bust Koko. I turned and whispered to Tojo, I figure it be best for him to ask her what Koko wanted with her.

"Hey Tojo. I know it's a long shot but ask her what Koko wanted to talk to her about. Do it in Japanese."

"Ok I'll try." He turned to Amada.

"Ishi."

(Doctor.)

"Hai?"

(Yes?)

"Koko no watashi no yujin wa kyomi ga arimasu. Koko to wa nani o hanashitai nodesu ka?"

(My friend here is curious. What did Koko and you want to talk about?)

"Naze kare wa josei no goshippu ni kyomigarimasu ka?"

(Why is he interested in women's gossip?)

"Uhh…kare wa yumoa no sensu ga aru kamo shiremasenga, shigoto o shite iru toki wa subete bijinesudesu. Onegaishimasu."

(Uhh…he may have a great sense of humor, but when he's on the job it's all business. Please.)

She turned to me with a relaxed expression and then turned back to Tojo.

"Sore wa watashitachi no himitsu no purojekutodesu."

(It's our secret project.)

As Tojo then explained his translation to me I gave up. I knew I wasn't going to get anything else out of her but at least I had something. Amada was being vague and it could have meant anything but project had to be something at least physical considering the woman was into robotics. Seeing how there was nothing else to do and we still had a long way to get back, I tried to get a nap in.

 **1145 Hours**

We managed to arrive back sooner than we wanted to but Lehm had gotten a call from Koko to pack up what we could cause we had to make a quicker exit out of South Africa by plane. I'm guessing that Chan was a bigger threat than Koko had faced before and wanted to get away faster than leaving by ship. Granted it was a good idea, but what was a shitty idea was not keeping tabs on the professor. Not long after we touched down she said she was gonna be at her office. Koko had unfortunately gotten up a little late this morning as she drank a little too much. But what was the worst was that when Koko had gone to see her, she had disappeared again to look for some damn clam on the beach. As we were about to leave the hotel I couldn't hold in my frustration any more.

"We go through all that shit for some ingredients for fucking soup!"

I slammed the storage box I was carrying on the ground so hard the lid popped open. Mao scrambled over to close it back shut since most of our weapons were in there and we were about to go to an airport.

"Calm down man! You should know not everything goes according to plan when you finish something and this kind of thing happens all the time with Koko."

"She ever heard of follow through?" I sighed in frustration. "Anyway is she, Lehm and Valmet on their way back?"

"Were gonna meet them at the airport, our next stop is England."

 **1220 Hours**

 **Port Elizabeth International Airport**

Whenever a soldier uses something so often they naturally grow attached to it like a rifle that always hits its mark or a chopper that can take the punishment and keep on flying. But when you lose it the worst way it can make you feel a little empty inside. That was the feeling Ugo had been carrying around since last night, they had to get away from Chan so fast that they had to ditch his brand new Mercedes. But I remember a saying from my Uncle Frank, my dad's oldest brother, from something he learned in Vietnam. You could always get more _things_ you couldn't always get more _people._ I hoped Mao was able to at least bet him away from the rain cloud he formed over his head. But it looked like he wasn't doing too well. As we were passing through the metal detector it was my turn but the strange thing is it was going off and I had nothing on me. I had no idea on how Koko was able to ship our guns with us but that was a separate issue. After passing through three times the security guard came to me.

"I'm sorry sir but we can't let you pass until we know for sure you have no metal objects on you."

 _I got nothing on me why the hell is the…oh right._

I had completely forgotten about a heist I pulled with the Russian Mob in Belarus. We were gonna rob the cash house of a rival family that apparently had a little more firepower than we thought, including grenades. When one came near me I scrambled like hell to get behind some solid cover but not before it blew and put a lot of shrapnel in my right thigh and leg. The guy that set up the gig personally paid for the surgery to get most of the shrapnel out of me. Keyword being most.

"I can answer that for you. I got shrapnel in my thigh from an explosion when I was in Iraq. Wave your metal detection rod along my right thigh that should pick it up."

He then looked at me skeptically. Fortunately Lutz and Koko backed me up.

"You heard the dude he's got shrapnel in his ass, don't ask him to pull down his pants."

"That's right sir. I know it might sound silly but it's true."

He looked at me in awe but finally believed us. "I'm sorry sir you can go through now."

Lutz then looked at me. "Imagine that. Only had to be told three times."

I knew where he was getting at. Security at airports around the world had now gotten to the point of being paranoid because of the terrorist attacks not only ten years ago but also all the numerous incidents that had popped up proving we had gaps in the armor. They just decided to hit all the places where the airports weren't, common sense was never part of a bureaucrats repertoire. And it did tend to cause frustration with those who flew including the guy that was behind us. An English man wanting to get back home.

"For God's sake will you hurry the bloody hell up! I'm going to miss my plane!"

"I'm so sorry sir. We'll be going." Koko said.

As I was starting to join the rest that had already passed through I heard a painful grunt. I turned around to see Valmet grabbing the guys face at the pressure point behind his jaw.

"I cannot believe you just got my boss to apologize to you. I can make it easier for you to skip the line in a wheelchair if you like."

She continued to hold her grip with a sadistic smirk and ignoring everything around her, including Koko's shout.

"That's enough Valmet! Lehm why aren't you stopping her!?"

"I don't know I'm finding this kinda funny!"

 _I don't got time for this shit._

I turned to the security guard. "I'll handle this for you sir. As a way of apologies for holding up the line any further. And trust me she's not the type that you wanna pat down and live."

I walked past the metal detector and broke her grip from the Englishman. Then with a little bit more force than I wanted to threw her over my shoulder like a rug.

"Come on Valmet I'm tired and it's gonna be a long flight."

"What the hell are you doing!? Put me down!"

"Shut up. You can beat the crap out of me later. Koko?"

She smiled at Valmet cruelly. "Better do what he says Valmet."

As I walked passed the detector and towards our gate and away from the rest of the crew I couldn't help but smile and wonder what Valmet's face looked like. But from the expressions on the faces of rest of the crew it had to be of utter disbelief. Nobody had been that bold against Valmet before.

"I hate you." She said with a mix of defeat and anger.

"Then you should have listened to Koko when she told you to calm down."

It then stuck me as odd considering how much more mass she had than the average woman, she was surprisingly light.

 **1923 Hours**

 **Flight 2390 to London, First Class Cabin**

Koko couldn't help but chuckle at Damien and Valmet. She looked ahead as they were both arguing over something trivial. Valmet said Damien spilled his drink on her. Damien said she tripped him while he was stretching his legs.

Koko turned towards Lehm. "You know I think those two are making great progress."

"You mean progress towards their next inevitable brawl?"

"That too. But hasn't Damien reached all of you guys on a personal level yet? He's not as withdrawn as he was when he first started working with us."

Lehm paused before he answered. "Answering you second question, yes. The first, not fully. You and I are the only ones who knows about what happened to him two years ago."

Koko's face then straightened, she knew that was dangerous ground for being around Damien.

"Well what did you think about it?"

He leaned his head back and looked at the cabin ceiling.

"You and I both know the shit the CIA tends to pull. Especially on how we avoid their paramilitary crews and SAD. Including that encounter we had with that woman a few years ago."

"You're not answering my question Lehm." She said with insistency.

"He took on the dark part of the CIA. Naturally and legally what he did do was make himself an enemy of the United States. He can't go back home and he hates himself for it and he even hates the things he's done just to stay alive. And if he gets pushed in the wrong way his emotions tend to get the better of him and while it makes him unpredictable, it's also a way that will get himself killed. But there's a few things I think he doesn't realize."

"What do you mean?"

"What I find amazing is that he took them head on and survived. He thinks that he took it to an extreme level but not all of it was his fault. They shot first, he just reacted. What happened to his team though was an accident, they couldn't have known what he was planning. And while yes he did ruin his life, he is making every fucking possible effort to try and make amends. You don't think he's doing that?"

Koko looked back ahead both Damien and Valmet were back in their arm lock from yesterday morning only sitting in opposite seats both had looks on their faces on wondering who was gonna quit first.

"Your right he is. I've never met anyone quite like him before. I'm gonna make sure he has a better future."

 **June 29** **th** **2010 0100 Hours**

 **7 hours till landing in London**

I never really could sleep well on planes. In fact in the last two years I never slept at all it was more along the lines of being unconscious. I often found it fascinating on how you can find out more about a person based on how they sleep. Some that are stressful often toss and turn. Those that are a little too relaxed tended to drool. Those that snored really loud often smiled cause they knew they were getting better rest than those around them. I was also regretting not bringing ear plugs with me on the plane, while some heard it as white noise I heard it as just noise period. While it drowned out the other senses, one sense I never pick up much on a plane was smell unless a mother was changing her baby's diaper or some asshole didn't stay puckered. The smell was smoke, cigarette smoke, and that meant one thing. I headed towards the source, it was where the flight attendants kept their carts.

"You know this is a non-smoking flight?"

"Save it. This has been my most expensive cigarette ever. Can't sleep again?"

He must have bribed the flight attendants. I then stretched my arms behind my head.

"I managed to catch a few hours. But you know these whole day flights never allow anyone to sleep well plus my legs are pretty numb."

"I'd figure your arms would be more shot with what you and Valmet were doing again." He teased.

"Hysterical. But on a serious note, when you were at Professor Amada's place did you happen to catch anything that could give you a clue that could have any indication on what she and Koko are doing?"

Lehm put out his smoke and gave me a look as if he was telling me to ease up.

"I thought Koko told you it was her secret."

"If she says it's nothing bad I'll believe her. The reason I want to know though is because _every_ time I got placed on shit that included "need to know basis" it always ended up with someone getting fucked over or nearly killed in the end. Most of the time it was me and once was from an employer I kinda liked and he ended up seeing me as just expendable."

"Alright alright. The only thing I noticed when Malin was apologizing over and over to Koko was a note from Dr. Miami that said something about a theory and it works."

 _Really? A theory? We went through all that shit to see if a theory was wrong or not? That also even broadens the picture even more._

"Ugh. I don't think I wanna know anymore." I said as I ran my hands through my hair and pulled on it. I then glanced over to the unguarded mini bottles of liquor.

"Think anyone's gonna notice I need liquid courage to get back to sleep and forget about yesterday?"

 **July 8** **th** **2010 0945 Hours**

 **East Sussex County, United Kingdom, HCLI Training Facility**

Even though it had fantastic architecture and history that dated back at least two thousand years the places you sometimes wanted to see in Britain were often tourist traps. I was a little disappointed that Koko didn't let me take in the sights that were the better places. But she at least let me, Lehm, and Wiley celebrate Independence Day at one of the local pubs provided we didn't get too plastered. We managed to drink in a place that allowed smoking so I decided to one up Lehm with a Cohiba. But unfortunately unlike Dubai we weren't on vacation this time, despite the beautiful summer scenery. Though we were far from it we still operated like if we were in a military unit and that required practice drills so that we didn't lose our edge. Fortunately we skipped all of the FNG crap and got to the good stuff that we needed to brush up on. Field ops being one of them, and we were in one of the seven different training sites around Europe where HCLI trained their security teams. I as I sat and listened what we were gonna do today, Valmet spoke up first. Holding up what I thought was an M4.

"This is a high velocity paintball gun. We got these on loan today from SCO19."

She then tested it out and pink paint splattered on the target down range. The sound was about as quiet as a typewriter. But nowhere near as annoying as Lutz's cockiness.

"Yeah yeah I know all about them. I suppose these are what we're training with today?"

"Your damn straight Lutz! As I recall you were the only one that got hit by hostile fire!"

 _Why do I have a feeling she just wants me to react?_

"And as _I_ recall you were the only one to break cover needlessly and rush out just so you fight a duel with Low. Also tell me who was it that prevented her squad from giving you a fucking lead enema? Koko with your permission let me partner with Lutz on this exercise."

Koko looked toward Valmet. "Once again, better listen to him he does have a point."

The look of agitated defeat appeared on Valmet's face again. She didn't bother responding cause she had nothing. Then Lehm spoke up.

"Ok guys were gonna do a little old school here, capture the flag. First one to take the flag or first one to take out your opponent wins."

"What's the prize?" Lutz and I asked, then Koko spoke up.

"I'll tell you both what it's $50 for each time you hit your opponent and $100 for taking the flag. I'll throw in a bonus if you get both."

We both stared at each other and sneered.

"Your mine blondie."

"Fat chance muscle head."

Unbeknownst to him I had a brought along one of a soldiers favorite field tools, 550 cord.

 **1016 Hours**

After managing to place a little something special next to a tree, I managed to find Lutz again. Being a designated marksman in the GSG9 I never needed to worry on how he handled himself. The anti-terrorism tactics that he and his fellow members were trained in were designed to be laser sharp. They were also experts in MOUT, military operations in urban terrain, and damn near anything that was close quarter. However they were still a rapid deploying rescue team that had the utmost regard for the preservation of life and to end a standoff as quick as possible. They were not grunts that stayed out in the field for days or even weeks on end. He was an excellent shot but a bit of a novice when it came to field combat. It really wasn't much of a fair fight since Green Berets were normally one with nature. We were taught not to be seen or heard and to use the environment to our advantage. I was a little concerned that Lehm and Wiley had not taught the crew some of the aspects on how a Delta Operator performs. But then again they were bodyguards not a spec ops team, our jobs were to keep Koko safe. That was abundantly clear while I was watching Lutz from under a bush.

 _Wide open. This is gonna be embarrassing for one of us._

I fired off a single shot and it was followed by a painful scream. These paintball guns were more accurate than I thought.

"DAMIEN! ICH WERDE DICH TOTEN!"

(Damien! I'm going to kill you!)

Now that he was angry all I had to do was get him back to the tree. I kept a pace in which he could stay behind me but I had to avoid the paint. I ran carefully over the trap and Lutz followed right behind. The snare did the rest an as he was upside down wondering what the hell happened I stood up and I took aim.

"You're only the world's greatest sniper…until someone sees you."

"Scheicce."

I didn't even need to aim.

 **1025 Hours**

When we got back to the range Wiley then counted the number of times I hit him. Koko had her arms over my shoulders while I was sitting down. Her getting close to me didn't seem to bother as much as from before. I never let anyone get close to me emotionally or physically for the last two years cause of my curse that in which people around me tended to either suffer or die. Despite on how my life turned out she made me feel welcomed. It even eased my tension on how I acted with more emotion than I normally did. Like on how I smiled sadistically at Lutz as he was covered in paint and the look of humiliation on his face.

"You didn't have to use the whole clip."

"Shut up I'm trying to count. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen." Wiley finished counting and Koko pulled out some cash.

"That totals up to $850 but no extra bonus since you didn't get the flag."

She held the cash out in front of my face and I grabbed it.

"The look on his face was good enough."

"Fuck you Damien." Lutz snapped back.

"Sorry. I'm not a big fan of blondes."

It had also seemed that I had also scored the title of the crews comedian. While the rest of the day went rather smoothly I was focusing on the schedules for what we were going to do tomorrow. Since the British were gonna start pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan earlier than the US was it turns out that the Iraqi's were interested in buying UAV's to counter a growing insurgent group along the Syrian border. HCLI was offering an American Predator and the Euro Groups French Neurons at Iraq's Embassy in London. As over shot as they were already, I could at least add some of London's landmarks to my scrapbook.

 **July 9** **th** **2010 1100 Hours**

 **Iraqi Embassy, London, United Kingdom**

I had to clean myself up properly for today fresh shave and hair in a ponytail. We were gonna be with a bunch of diplomats and other legit arms dealers after all. Since everyone was going to be dressed formally for this kind of event I had nothing to wear. Since we left South Africa so quickly most of my stuff was still on board the _Fruition_. So I had to buy a new suit, a navy blue Armani with a gold tie and with Crockett and Jones derby's all together worth about $5,000. These at least were the places I could show off my garb and not worry about something crazy going off unless it did. I took rear guard position today while Valmet and Tojo were flanking Koko.

"Looks like they've got major players here today. Check it out on the far left, Amalia Tolokhovsky, an actress turned arms dealer." Tojo said.

"Wow she's actually really beautiful."

I was glad I wasn't looking at the rest of them cause my expression and reaction could only be matched by Homer Simpson and his catchphrase of "D'OH!".

 _Oh no. This is rather awkward. Please don't notice us._

That hope was quickly dashed as she made her way towards us.

"Koko Hekmatyar! What a pleasure! I had a feeling there would be a fresh face here and I had to see for myself. I hope you will go easy on me I just…wait a minute."

 _Crap._

"Something wrong Ms. Tolokhovsky?" Koko asked.

A mischievous chuckle followed by a question. "He definitely is not the one for wearing suits but I'd recognize him anywhere. It that you Mr. Andrushko?"

I awkwardly turned around and decided to be formal.

"Zdravstvuyte g-zha Tolokhovsky. Chto eto bly god?"

(Hello Ms. Tolokhovsky. What's it been a year?)


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Nature of Business**

 **July 9** **th** **2010 1130 Hours**

 **Iraqi Embassy, London, United Kingdom**

"You two know each other?" Koko asked.

"It was about a year ago when I was in Moscow for about four months. I hooked up with a gig that involved "liberating" about $12 million from a cash house in Belarus. My employer at the time owed a favor to someone else so he decided to rob a rival family and I take it that the cash we took he gave to her."

In reality the damn fool was desperate because his own fraud schemes were catching up to him and he needed a massive influx of money to keep his scam appear to be legit. Amalia managed to help convince the Russian Authorities to look away from him so that was the favor he owed. He didn't really plan the thing out properly and instead of deciding to rob a bank he made the worse idea of taking mob money. Which in Russia was considered a death sentence.

"Now that's not entirely true. While it's not how I wanted the favor he owed me repaid you also pulled him and his partner out of that house alive while you yourself was wounded. You also managed to cover up who really robbed that cash house so he could get away clean. Who do you think really gave him the money to get your leg fixed?"

I literally had to drag both of them out with the stolen cash because he was pissing himself and the other guy was just a lousy shot that got knocked unconscious from a falling crate. As we were about to get away I gave him an ultimatum, he pays to fix my leg and give me a bigger cut or I feed him to the guys he ripped off. Naturally he agreed and I covered up the evidence of who was there by setting the whole cash house on fire.

"She also visited me in the hospital after the surgery and offered me a job." I looked away embarrassed that time.

"And you left Russia without even giving me an answer or giving me a chance to say congratulations on a well done job. That makes me sad."

 _I feel like I'm talking to that Soviet broad from Hogan's Heroes._

Koko then spoke up. "Well Damien works for me now. That won't be an issue will it?"

"Of course not. We both have much to do here other than concerning ourselves on who our employees used to work for."

I couldn't believe I ran into her again. She was the only person who I got closer than arm's length in two years, not by much. But just enough to know how she operated, I didn't know for sure but I doubted that Koko hadn't come across a dealer like this before. Despite her age, knowledge of weapons, and having a brain that puts The Flash to shame there's always a first time for everything. Especially if you can be out done.

 **1400 Hours**

 **Parliament Hill Park**

I was all too glad to get out of that suit and back into my jeans. I wasn't paying that much attention to how business went with Koko and Amalia but it looked like the deal kind of went sour for Koko. But she had an idea, we were waiting at a bench near one of the ponds.

"This really sucks you know Damien?"

"Telling me is not gonna make it any better."

"Well I'm going to have to anyway!" She tried to pull me close to her but she had difficulty getting my large form to move.

"Anyways if it has to deal with Amalia then it's gotta be fierce."

"Honestly it feels like the deal was already made before I even got here. Like I wasn't even part of the game. That woman just lifts her finger and those old military boy's come running to her like children to ice cream."

"Personality and charm can win over damn near anyone in any kind of business. Not to praise her but Amalia is probably more of a pro at this stuff than you are. Besides being in the game longer and getting her startup money from when her husband passed being an actress involves manipulation through story telling. Tell the buyer what they want to hear and see and of course she'll get people to buy her stuff."

"Hmm. You know a little more about her than your letting on. Is there more?" She said seductively.

"Before you start playing slow jazz in your head there was never anything like that. You heard what she said. The reason I had to leave without telling anyone was that Russian FSB was picking up my scent. With them wanting to keep improving relations with the United States I didn't need to figure out that they could have used me as a bargaining chip."

"That's only half an answer Damien." She didn't let up.

"Ok big reason is that I am curious to a fault. Intelligence gathering was part of my advanced training so naturally I look into things and people for stuff I can use for or against later on. But where getting off topic, you mentioned the drones?"

Before she could speak I heard the shout of a woman that had an American accent.

"Hey! Koko! There you are! Sorry I took so long but it hot out today and the food here's terrible."

"Who the hell is that?" My eyes widened as I saw a woman probably no older than me or Koko that was blonde, blue eyed, well endowed, and from first impressions clueless.

"Uhh…you remember that Scarecrow got a new partner?"

My jaw literally dropped to the ground. I know Langley had used seduction to get information out of people but they must have been getting desperate if they were sending girls like this to train at The Farm. Naturally and with all expectations when she saw me she immediately froze.

"It's ok Schokolade he's harmless, don't be rude Damien say hello."

"Hi and one question, are you on the companies time?"

She looked at me like I was not going like the answer. "Yes. Why?"

 _Not a good pick if you want someone on your pay in the CIA Koko. Not to mention they're still looking for me._

"No reason. Go ahead Koko I'll wait here."

She kept looking at me as they were walking away expecting me to leap off the bench and start breaking things. Even though it was somewhat true I often got annoyed that just because I was large meant I was a total meat head. As they went to the side of the pond I tuned out everyone else and tried to pay attention to what they were saying. Schokolade went first.

"So about the situation with the drones. The Americans aren't interested in selling them to a country that they know won't use them to the best of their abilities. The Iraqi's will probably sell them to another Middle Eastern country to get the money and you know where that will lead."

"Yes I doubt very much they'd want the technical details of their drones easily accessible to hostile groups."

"So the Iraqi's will hope to settle a better deal with Euro Groups drones. But it looks like your plan to try and reverse this won't work."

"The market for unmanned weapons are just gonna keep climbing. Any nation willing to shell out money so that they don't endanger the lives of their troops will pay top dollar for the best. Feed the fire, rather than get burned by it. Am I right?"

"I'm afraid that's all I got. I gotta get going, if you know Scarecrow he'll be shitting bricks if he finds out I'm spending too much time talking to you."

As she was about to leave Koko took her hand and placed her forehead on hers. Her knack for wanting to get close to people was gonna backfire one day.

"What's wrong?" She said blushing.

"I really find it interesting that a CIA techy would side with a moron like Scarecrow. His little crusade against me is rather pathetic. But you're doing your job and I'm not gonna stop you. And seeing on how you even managed to freak Damien out I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."

 _How the fuck else would I act? She looks like she should be pouring drinks at a club not working with the Agency._

As she backed away Koko placed something in her hand and she held it up to the sun. I immediately saw a sparkle from it, the damn thing had to be at least 10 carats.

"Wait is this…holy crap this things real! Is it for me?"

"I don't want the American's pulling out of this deal. Just keep an eye on them for me."

Tomorrow was the day she was gonna make the deals with buyers from the Iraqi military. It was Koko's time to shine.

 **July 10** **th** **2010 1700 Hours**

 **Outside The Grand Hazelton Hotel, Koko's 5** **th** **Turn Down**

That's if that shine could somehow be better than cardboard. Today was a little rough. Amalia managed to get to all of them ahead of Koko.

"That…bitch…is…everywhere!"

This had to be the most uneventful and boring day on the job yet, except for Ugo, Lutz and me trying not to laugh at Koko's freak out.

"Once again look out world, the little lady is angry again." Lutz said in his usual sarcasm.

"Boss you're gonna have an aneurism if you keep squeezing your head like that." Ugo followed up.

True to her charm Tolokhovsky had gotten the Iraqi's to side with the Euro Groups products. Turns out she leaked some info, I doubted it was real, that the American model drones were just Italian copies to some European news group. At the risk of throwing fuel on a fire I decided to remind her.

"I did tell you she's a pro at this sort of thing Koko. Has this deal gone bust? I mean technically you're not losing anything so it's not that big of a problem."

After regaining her composure she turned to us. "No we're not done yet. She may have charm on her side but I can outwit her. She's not the only one that can pull of a good show."

 _I think I can see where this is going. But Amalia is pretty keen on seeing through lies. That's what acting is anyway._

 **July 11** **th** **2010 1930 Hours**

 **En Route to Greenland Docks**

"Hey Lutz quick question what does "Schokolade" mean?" I said to him on the radio.

"Means chocolate, why?"

"Candy of the eye, figures. It's the code name of that woman I saw when I was with Koko."

Days of the week when you're on the job and the boss does all the work goes by a lot faster than you think. Koko had been rather busy all day today sending out a bunch of fake emails and phone calls to let Tolokhovsky know that HCLI was pulling out of the deal for the drones. She had to have been listening but Amalia was smarter than she gave her credit for. This was a very elaborate chess game and from what I've been observing they were still holding each other's ground. But she got Schokolade to make a few stops in Germany to get them to purchase the drones that were modified to fire German made weapons. Naturally the German mark compared to the Iraqi dinar was a huge difference. That had to be the signal in which Tolokhovsky wanted to discuss things with Koko face to face. I knew what to expect on what was gonna happen but I also remembered that Koko owed all of us a favor.

"Hey Koko I also remembered along with the Germany deal you managed to throw a rather strong breeze into her web of contacts as well. I need to talk to you about that."

"What is it?"

"You remembered I asked you to do _all_ of us a favor and stop pissing off so many people?"

"Yes I did why?"

"Well here's a good opportunity to make good on that favor. I know this business is literally cut throat but it helps to not burn bridges. Amalia isn't stupid. She knows you lied."

"Don't worry Damien I didn't forget and I'll uphold that favor."

As we arrived Amalia was waiting for us under a container crane with her body guard. Valmet and I flanked Koko.

"Koko so glad you could come on short notice."

"Think nothing of it. You'll forgive me but are you armed? Should we be worried about snipers?"

"None here, my bodyguard is armed but that is all so relax. I didn't come here with the intention of causing harm over a business deal. Plus Damien's with you, we got off to such a good start when I visited him in the hospital recovering and I hate to let him see a bad side of me on one of our very few meetings."

 _Half a lie, I know you got eyes on us. But I got a feeling that Koko pissed off someone else on her little lie binge. It's natural for fireworks to follow her everywhere._

"Damien has been one of my most valuable members for a reason. He can sense ambushes, so naturally I can't relax and plus he doesn't work for you."

"Well I regret not paying closer attention when we first met. You and Damien have more in common than you think. Your sweet face and his sarcasm are just a mask."

Koko's face then turned serious, it was all business now. It was her turn to make the next move on the board.

"Yes it is. I take it you managed to see through my diversions and being an actress is part of that but that's the limit of your strength. Unlike me you've never really set foot on a battlefield. Arms dealers don't need to spend _all_ of their time in warzones but you need to know what you're selling. Not just whether or not you'll make a profit on whatever you have. Weapons have only one purpose, to kill people, and if you can't realize you will never make it far in this line of work. You will never know the substance of what you sell."

"You think I'm ignorant of what my line of work is? I know what weapons do they are dangerous things. It's dangerous in where ever I go. It doesn't even need to be a battlefield."

"The boss should be smiling no matter what. It was what one of my older bodyguards said to me. Cover your face in a mask and wrap your heart in iron armor. Those are the words my father lives by. I remember their advice because they were right."

As she said that Valmet looked away slightly as if she was pondering or trying to counter what she said. But I could tell what she was thinking. From my perspective she obviously didn't agree with lying to yourself and being someone else can cause more harm than good.

"Being in the business of dangerous things as you call them tend to rot the soul."

"I do suppose that when two arms dealers meet that it won't be without conflict. I you tell me that someone so naïve would bring one bodyguard before she gets burned?"

"No but I will say one more thing."

"Wait before you say anything else I want to let you know I'm having a little bit of fun."

 _This is why I got away from her. She sticks around shit when is totally nerve wracking!_

"When I found out that the Iraqi General I made a deal with see the drone deal go bad for him he looked like he was going to have a stroke. But back to the topic at hand, I don't do what I do because I have a cause or I have a family to support. I do it because I like the rush. It's not every day you can come across someone with a tremendous strike, especially from a woman. This is the kind of thing I live for, conversations like this."

 _Like I said, nerve wracking._

"But it looks like things planned out for you Koko. My group is pulling out of the UAV deal. I wanted to come and talk to you so that I could admit defeat. Yesterday's enemy, tomorrows friend. It's the way this continent has survived all these millennia."

She then approached Koko.

"You agree with me don't you?"

"Well what's the other reason you wanted to see me? Then I'll say yes."

"The Iraqi's stock hold in this. Do you think you could do something as a new friend?"

"Well lets go back to that discussion earlier." She nodded to Valmet and she went back to the car.

 _Here we go._

"I'm well aware of how the Europeans do things but you need to reconsider your methods. I'm thinking about donning our masks and striking our enemies. Meaning nationally privatized defense companies they are the ones that are holding the whole group back. The confidence of unsinkable battleships doesn't vanish overnight."

"Alright then 2% back."

"Sorry no good 5%."

 _Come on give the signal._

"Koko, now!" I heard Valmet on the radio and Koko raised her fist. Followed by two shots and two sharp screams, Lutz went for non-lethal on two separate groups of snipers. Tolokhovsky and her bodyguard shaken and wondering what the hell happened.

"Excellent shooting Lutz!"

Wiley then came on the horn. "Dumb bastards didn't even know what hit them. Bad ass"

"Ah it was 275 meters across the water with no wind it was easy."

Koko then turned back to the startled Tolokhovsky. "I do apologize for that we had a few trouble makers to take care of. Don't worry we didn't kill them."

Valmet then pulled up the car. Looked like we were done and she made one last statement to Tolokhovsky.

"I am willing to sell but only directly to you. 5% ok?"

"More than fair. Oh Damien!"

"Yeah?"

"Please take my advice, I think working for Koko will turn out better for you than you might think. The job I offered you last year would have gotten you some better contacts to build a web of connections but it would have been only in Europe. Being with her should benefit you more and I don't think I need to tell you how well she can adapt to any situation."

"Mmm. Thank you Amalia, we'll see you at the embassy tomorrow and we'll talk non-business. Harasho?"

"Derzhat'sya podal'she ot nepriyatnostey mal'chika."

(Stay out of trouble boy.)

I waved and we took off. Lutz and Wiley had left too. As we were driving back to our hotel I leaned forward from the backseat.

"Didn't I tell you it helps not to burn bridges? Now you just made another one and made it a little sturdier in the process."

Valmet tended to disagree. "Still doesn't explain why you were so soft on her."

"Well that and she did say it was fun talking to me."

"Then it must be a million times more fun talking to me!"

"Valmet can you please watch the road? And yes Damien you were right, and it would be better not to butt heads with her again. But now you better answer me with the truth, how well do you know Amalia? Really?"

I leaned back in the back seat and sighed, it was time I shared one of my sadder stories.

"When she visited me in the hospital she stayed longer than was necessary. For hours we just talked about anything, but it was the way we talked to each other like a parent to their child. She said that being an actress you can see through facades rather easily and while she knew my reputation before she visited me she then knew me in just a matter of hours. She didn't just see me as damaged but also alone in the world, that I had no one to fall back on. I think she saw pity in me or maybe she wanted to help me find a purpose but I couldn't answer that cause well you know the rest. But at least I found out what she wanted to do for me."

I then leaned forward and got in between the two of them.

"And admit it, I am fun to have around aren't I?"

They both smiled but it looked like Valmet wanted to get the last say in.

"You don't have me wanting to kill you _every_ second of the day." She sneered.

 **July 17** **th** **2010 1000 Hours**

 **Aboard the** ** _Fruition_** **, The English Channel**

The deal with the UAV's went without a hitch and Koko had managed to get a new buying and trading partner out of it. The rest of the time there in England was rather uneventful and we had to wait another six days before the _Fruition_ came to make port in England. Our next destination was the Mediterranean and since we were gonna be near Italy I figure an Italian breakfast would be good for this morning. Some espresso and a convoluted crostata. Since we had no apricots on board I had to make due with a can of peaches. As I was enjoying the last of my coffee on the roof of the bridge I saw the British mainland disappeared from view I heard footsteps behind me, Ugo.

"You gotta tell me how you made that. I wanna make that for myself one more morning before we get to where we're going."

"Sounds easy enough, I figure since you and R are gonna be passing by home I figure that be appropriate."

"Only by heritage, I'm actually from New York."

"Seriously? I thought you were full on Cosa Nostra?"

"That all ended when I _intrigued_ Koko and she took me in an said your my new chauffer."

He said that rather uneasily. I know that she didn't really discriminate from who she hired, but when she wanted to she could be quite ruthless.

"Why do I have the feeling that your first impression of Koko was of utter fear?"

He paused and looked down to the water before answering.

"Little advice for whenever we do transactions with buyers since I don't think you know. Make sure it's either cash or weapons trade."

"Well duh but where you getting at?"

"When I was a driver for my former boss he decided to pay for a transaction with Koko in heroin. Naturally she didn't accept and they killed everyone at the meeting except for me."

I paused cause I literally couldn't think of anything. So I just asked the obvious question.

"You said you intrigued her. How?"

"I didn't tell her the real reason until much later but when I saw what my former boss was paying her with it infuriated me. Cause that shit killed my younger brother."

"Oh God man I'm sorry. Why didn't you just quit and work for someone else if your boss was into dope dealing?"

"The hell was I supposed to do I was just a driver. It's not like I could have said no."

He did raise a valid point. Mob families placed loyalty to an extreme but it all completely changed when John Gotti came into the spotlight of the Gambino Crime Family by doing everything the Cosa Nostra was not supposed to do. Lack of respect for life was one of the biggest. Then a thought occurred to me, always respect other's by their character and who they are as a person. It was only something I did with only a few of the crew in the month's I've been with them and I should have asked this question to not only him but to Lutz, Lehm, and Mao.

"Not to get off topic for a second but I never got your first name. I never found it appropriate when I was working with good people that I address them just by last names or nicknames only."

He then smiled and introduced himself. "It's Michael."

"Well Mike now you're with a group of people you _can_ say no to. Little something from my earliest days at West Point. While the final decision rests with the leader, they must listen to what their subordinates have to say. More often than not, they normally have pretty good ideas. And I'm glad I'm with a team that doesn't try to out-do each other."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? What about you and Valmet?"

"Ok maybe that's still in the works."

 **July 20** **th** **2010 1400 Hours**

 **The Mediterranean Sea, Spanish Terrirotrial Waters**

Poker. Normally me, Mao, Lutz, Tojo and R tended to do it on the evenings but we were a little more bored than usual so we each threw $1000 in the pot and it was gonna be winner take all. I was losing bad today but its not like I had to worry about bills or even taxes for that matter. As it was R's turn to be the card dealer Mao's phone rang.

"Hello? Sa bai di thi hak! Excuse me guys I fold I gotta take this."

Laotian wasn't a language I knew but he looked quite happy. Tojo looked at his cards and then spoke.

"It must be 2100 hours back in Laos right now must be time for bed."

"What do you mean?"

"Ask him when he comes back. Hopefully we can get him distracted so we can win some of our money back."

"Cruel. I like it."

Five minutes later he came back in and sat down. It was my turn to deal.

"Tojo mentioned bed time. You got a family?"

"Oh yeah. Going on twelve years along with a 10 year old boy and an 8 year old girl. Here look."

He pulled out his wallet and showed me the photo. His wife was rather beautiful and his children looked healthy but what itched in the back of my head was that I didn't think they knew what he really did for a living. Not to mention that the average family in Laos tended to live on the most basic necessities. Where they may have looked normal in America, they must have seen as royalty in Laos. Kind of appropriate seeing that Mao's last name was Loe, which translated as "King". It was best to not mention that as he pointed in order from his wife to his children.

"Alaula, Keowynn, and Malia. They look like me don't they, especially around the nose."

"Uhh…no they have the graceful luck of looking more like their mother."

The whole table bursted out laughing, Mao should have known better that if I see an opportunity I'd take it.

"Very funny but unless you count Lehm and his multiple divorces, I'm the only one with a family."

"Honestly that doesn't surprise me, a guy like him will always enjoy the warriors life. How many ex's he got?"

"Just one."

As I was rearranging my cards my thoughts stopped, something didn't add up.

"Uhh…you just said multiple."

"I know, it's the same woman over and over. You won't like the answer though."

"Well who is it?" I asked as I drank my soda.

"Chiquita."

It hit me with utter shock and I spewed my soda right at Tojo.

"SHIT! Could it have killed you to do that away from the table!?"

"Sorry." I wiped the pop off me with my shirt. "She's his ex!? The fuck!?"

"He's right that came as a bit of shock to me when I first came on." Lutz said.

"Originally they were Floyd Hekmatyar's guard and I think you can figure out that he wanted his kids to have the best protection." R followed up.

"Well no surprise both Koko and Kasper picked the best of the best."

"Well then this might come as a surprise to you but me and Ugo are technically the outsiders. Where he came from the mafia, I was just an average grunt, artillery."

"King of Battle, nice."

Mao then sighed deeply. "Not really. There was an accident during a training exercise one day and one of my cannon crew got killed. Not long after that I was discharged and I was drifting around trying to find work when I ran into Koko."

The mood then kinda went somber around the table. I didn't need to figure out what was gonna come next.

"Needless to say I was too ashamed and embarrassed to tell my family the truth. But Koko said to not let my conscience weight me down and to look toward my team. But I can't help but think what her grand plan is in all of this."

 _Better get off this topic. We're having fun and I don't wanna darken the mood._

"Well you know what I'm gonna let you guys in on a little secret so don't tell anyone else yet. When Koko needed to see Professor Amada in South Africa she mentioned to her that a _theory_ was completed."

"A theory? About what?" Tojo asked.

"No clue, I'm afraid that's all I got."

The guys at the table gave each other ponderous looks as we put the last of our bets into the pot. It was time to show down. Lutz had three twos, R had two queens, Tojo had two sixes and sevens, Mao had a full house. I however had the winning hand, but I didn't feel like taking Mao's money today. I was gonna make sure that it went to his kids.

"Your turn Damien."

"Straight. Money's all yours Mao."

"What!?" They all said in unison.

"Guys I'm loaded enough as it is. I may have to spend my money on something but Mao, that goes to your kids for college."

As I left the table I felt Lutz, R, and Tojo burning a hole in the back of my head but I didn't care. I then mentioned to Mao.

"Also you make sure that you treat Mrs. Loe to something nice next time we have extended time off or I'll tell her you've been gambling."

"Hey I...uhh crap."


	16. Chapter 15

**Author 's Note:** I'm back a little earlier than expected. I'm gonna do something that may seem a little unique to the story so I'll let you guys the readers figure out what that is. For reasoning I'll just say that useless characters who's only purpose is to be in one scene and die is given more than more important people who are actually crucial to the story. I also just finished Damien's backstory to where he came from, it's not pleasant on what happened to him. One could understood why he snapped.

But for now, let's continue.

 **Chapter 15: The Dragons Nightmare**

 **July 25** **th** **2010 0945 Hours**

 **Aboard the** ** _Fruition_** **, The Adriatic Sea, Italian Territorial Waters**

Inevitability, when I saw it I didn't even need to react because the with ever growing amount of shit that they kept piling up after I ran for it two years ago wasn't gonna come without consequence. The only thing I could bring myself to do was sigh humbly and be filled with calmness. But while I was nowhere near one of the victims, the US as well as its troops reputation had been utterly damaged to a point where it would be near impossible to repair. Once it hit the major outlets it then moved to almost every media website I was clicking on. Most of us were in the living room this morning but the TV was off, nobody had checked the news yet and I had to speak up on this.

"The White House, The Pentagon, and most assuredly Langley are totally shitting cinder blocks in their basements right now."

Karl then sighed heavily, he often got real annoyed whenever I started talking about politics. I found out I could use that to counter his bitching. Regardless of the fact that most of the crap I experienced was first hand.

"Ok what kind of mad conspiracy theory is it this time? Was it the aliens who landed at Roswell the real assassins of John F. Kennedy?"

"I'm not joking around this time. Julian Assange strikes again. I don't know how the hell he and his Wikileaks group got ahold of it all but he just blew the whistle on all the crap the US government was trying to keep under wraps on how bad the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan really are. Their calling it the Afghan War Diary."

There was silence around the room but even though he hid it well. John knew I was all too happy to hear that this had happened considering the fact only he and Koko knew about what happened to me.

"What's this diary saying?"

"Too much to go through in one explanation but apparently there's over 75,000 documents that dictate all kinds of crap. Accidental and intentional civilian deaths. Pakistani and Iranian weapons shipments to the insurgents. Spec Ops use greater than intended. In a nutshell, the press, certain human rights groups, and most definitely the American people are gonna have a field day with Congress and the White House."

Except for Lehm the rest of the crew still didn't know what my real personality and my real nature was. I remembered what Amalia was saying to Koko, we both hid behind a mask. The only difference between me and Koko was that she could take hers off. I didn't really wear what you would call a mask. More like a tremendous barrier that had to contain and keep a monster in check. But that monster was slowly withering away with the help of my new friends.

"I don't normally see you this excited about anything without pulling out your infamous jackass self. This has something to do with why you left?" Wiley asked.

I didn't answer, partly because he was right but there was also an even darker part with that. I stood up from my chair and took out my cell.

"Hey Koko, something good just happened and I think we should celebrate. Get ahold of the bridge and ask the captain if he knows of any nice beaches he can park the ship off of. Hold on. You guys up for some porterhouses for lunch?"

 **1220 Hours**

 **Gulf of Manfredonia, Gargano National Park, Italy**

I remembered what seemed like an eternity ago when I'd do beach trips like this was still in high school I'd try and get my dad to send me and a few of my school friends to my grandparents', on my mother's side, house in Panama City. Naturally due to my massive size I got more than my fair share of looks from the ladies, especially if we managed to go down there during spring break when almost every college student in the country went down to Florida. I'll never forget the look on some of their faces, both guys and girls, when I told them I still hadn't even graduated high school. Of course that didn't stop me from sneaking in a few beers and margaritas when the beach patrol wasn't looking. But the one today was more of relaxation and work at the same time. With the iPod system playing Red Hot Chili Peppers and everyone enjoying themselves I had to grill the meat and corn cobs. I had to keep my hair in a ponytail again so not to get anything on the food but I was gonna eat last. The combined heat of the sun and grill was burning me up and I needed to jump in the water and cool off.

"Hey Damien how much longer?" Tojo shouted.

"They're ready to eat now unless you want them a little more well done."

"Ha ha! You heard him guys! Chows up!" Ugo said eagerly.

"Not yet! Ladies first, Koko? Valmet?"

It was good I was wearing sunglasses so they couldn't see my eyes looking them both up and down. While Koko was wearing a blue beach shirt and that ridiculously large hat of hers she still wanted to maintain her complexion, she wasn't as revealing as Valmet. Her athletic body and a few other blatantly obvious features in that black bikini was nothing short of heart stopping and it could prove to be literal by her stabbing you in the heart if you looked at her wrong. But I didn't see the guys eyeing her up and down, either they were more subtle than I was or they were afraid to die.

 _Seriously those things can't be real._

"Just don't give me the largest one Damien."

"Got it Koko. Ok come on guys line up!"

After I was done I immediately ran for the water, I was on fire. After swimming a few times around I just let myself drift and I then started to think about this morning. If I didn't go crazy and finished my tour, there was no doubt that my name would have popped up on those documents somewhere linking me and a lot of other special forces operatives to the shit the CIA was pulling. But I got a feeling that all the stuff that was brought to light was something that the US government probably wouldn't lose much sleep over. While the fallout from this was gonna be nasty I seriously doubt that the CIA was stupid enough to leave a record of what happened at that black site. I didn't know if anything was really gonna change. As I then shut my eyes and continued to drift I heard splashing.

"Careful Damien. You keep drifting you're gonna end up in the middle of the Adriatic."

"Why you out here Koko I thought you were eating?" I said still floating with my eyes shut.

"I finished about ten minutes ago and you're the only one who hasn't eaten yet. I swam out to get you, you've been out here a while, take a look."

I began to tread water and noticed that I was quite a distance away from the shore.

"Must have got lost in thought again."

"That's normally the case when mermaids want to trap sailors at sea. But I think this one has a crush on you."

She then floated in front of me and the water was so clear I could see her. Her long white hair spreading around her like wings.

"But too bad for them cause they can't have you. You belong to only me Damien." She giggled. "Right?"

 _She's never been this up front before. Is she actually hitting on me? God I hope ain't blushing._

As we got back to shore I ringed the water out from my hair, grabbed a towel, and made for the grill.

"Ok no one had better taken my steak cause I'm…wondering what the hell happened to you?"

As I was drying my face off, R was holding a bag of ice over his left eye. Lutz and Tojo were flanking him and their eyes pointed to the obvious answer, Valmet. Curious to a fault, I had to ask.

"Renato man. What did you do?"

"I avoided getting killed, that's all you need to know."

It was only a guess but it looked like he tried to use his Italian charm and it backfired painfully.

"Ugh. Word of advice on alpha's. NEVER go with the forward approach."

 **2000 Hours**

After our little beach party this afternoon it was gonna be back to the grind stone as usual. We continued along the Italian peninsula and our final destination was Pescara. We were in the ships meeting room and Koko was about to brief us.

"Ok guys if you look at the order I've just received in front of you its time…for an air delivery!"

Confused on why she build up the slight suspense, Lehm then spoke up probably to everyone.

"Things work better when there's no air travel. Seriously flying with her is never a good experience."

"Hey watch it Lehm. Jinxes like that are nothing more than manifestations of your subconscious anxiety. You got your brain all convinced that something is going to go wrong and it does it's as simple as that. Just let it go."

He leaned over to Wiley. "Didn't she just jinx _us_?"

"Ugh. Everything's gonna go smoothly on this flight and you be eating your words!" She said with frustration.

"I don't know Koko I gotta agree with Lehm. In the last five months on average a fire tends to start whenever we make deliveries or deals. It all depends on how much gasoline is around us when the match is struck."

"GAH! OK! No more negativity! This is gonna go smoothly nothing more or less!"

As she went into one of her hissy fits I glanced down at the form. The cargo will be at Pescara International Airport and will depart tomorrow morning at dawn with full instructions before flight.

 _Lehm called it. I hate sketchy shit._

 **July 26** **th** **2010 0630 Hours**

 **Pescara International Airport, Italy**

I should have seen this coming but I had a feeling that we didn't always just deliver weapons. I didn't peg us for a traveling agency though. We were tasked at the last minute to deliver a team from the NGO Doctor's Without Borders into Kosovo, the only catch was that we had to land in Serbia. We were delivering artillery pieces to them, essentially supplying two sides that hated each other and we were gonna be in the middle of it. It appeared that they didn't want them in the country so the DWB decided to pay HCLI to sneak them in. Kosovo was already recognized as an independent republic by NATO but Serbia still wanted to make things difficult and claim that it was still part of Serbia. It seemed as though Europe never wanted war to end. Even though things didn't blow up entirely during the Cold War, except for a few uprisings, Europe had had enough after the World War II. But with the fall of communism, bred a whole new spread of problems, Yugoslavia being one of the worst. Since there was so many different ethnicities throughout the Balkan's naturally there were blood feuds specifically between the Croats and the Serbs. Similar to when I was in Burma except the war that followed was based on nationalism. This lead to a ten year stream of proxy wars that occurred all over the Balkans and ended in November 2001. But not before the displacement of over 4 million people and 140,000 dead. And with so many weapons that were literally left lying around, the Balkans became a new place for the arms trade. Naturally this place was one of Koko's distribution places but on this trip but Lehm's intuition paid off. I saw her eyes twitching as she was talking on her sat-phone. She preferred to selling to one party at a time.

"Are you telling me were sitting on a powder keg and you want us to light up cigarettes?"

…

"STUPID! MORON! DUMMY! JERK!"

 _And…she's pissed again._

"Still think it's all in my head Koko?"

Koko just pushed Lehm aside as she went to address the pilot Holtz and, to my insane surprise, co-pilot Ugo. My brain was going through enough stress as it was I didn't wanna know how the hell he managed to learn how to fly a plane.

"Holtz! Ugo! We got more cargo coming with us! 700 kilograms of doctors!"

"We can barely manage that." They said in unison.

"You both said barely so that means you can do it. So do it!"

With their primary title of Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Swiss based humanitarian group has been traveling all over the world helping out nations in need since the 70's. They wanted to treat peoples diseases and injuries and they didn't care who they did it to. While rather noble, they always drew attention from really unpleasant people. Naturally they normally tended to go to war zones and places where they weren't really wanted so there was a constant danger. Even though they never really officially said it they tended to bring along those that had the job of keeping them safe. But that wasn't gonna be the case with this job. Drop them off and leave, nothing more. The big blonde guy with a French accent with scar's on the right side of his face and his posture told me he was anything but a doctor.

"Miss Hekmatyar, before we get started I wanted to personally thank you for doing this for us."

"Hold on Dr. Riviere. You do realize what I really am?"

"I'm aware yes. But our job is to help people regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political opinion."

"Very well. But I want all of you to understand, you're cargo not passengers. If I have to I'll have to put you in a shipping container."

A woman in her mid-thirties spoke up. "We're used to it."

It got a laugh from the other doctors but the French guy, obviously their leader, clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Ok MSF. Pack up we'll be departing soon."

As we started strapping our gear on we then made our way out to the tarmac. Our ride towards Serbia was an HCLI modified C-130 cargo plane. When I was walking towards the tail of the plane I halted and noticed several devices on it. IR jammers on the wings and flare launchers on the tail.

"Something wrong Damien?" R asked. His eye still black from Valmet's punch.

"Just glad Koko's taking every precaution. There's quite a few anti-air devices on this bird."

"Lehm did tell you that flying with Koko was never a good thing."

"Who knew she actually would listen?"

As we both started to laugh we heard her behind us.

"I hate to interrupt something amusing, BUT GET YOUR ASSES ON THE DAMN PLANE!"

Wondering how she managed to yell over the engine roar. I found the only open seat in the crammed bird to be in between Tojo and the lady doctor from earlier.

"Hope you don't mind miss. It's not my fault I take up too much room."

"Not at all. What's your name?"

"Damien Andrushko."

"Margret Messner. But please call me Maggie."

"You an American? How long you've been working for MSF?"

"About six years now. And I take it from the length of your hair you've been out of the military for a while now."

"That's kind of a complicated subject, how'd you guess I was a soldier anyway?"

"I've traveled all over the world with other peacekeeping forces but I know our men and women in uniform when I see them. I visited Iraq rather frequently."

Good thing that was all she saw me as, anything more and it would have turned ugly. Koko then came on the horn.

"So far it's smooth sailing. See Lehm? I told you it was just your imagination!"

"Yeah yeah."

The flight across the Adriatic Sea was rather short it only took about an hour to get from Rome to Belgrade so where we were going was gonna be shorter. We were ten minutes out from the base we were gonna land at. The leader of the doctors, Riviere, addressed his flock again.

"The Balkans are Europe's munitions magazine and the district where we're heading to now is a great example. Even though the Yugoslav Wars were one of its worst, the fighting over lands and between ethnicities have been going on since the 14th century. Slobodan Milosevic and his ethnic cleansing policies pushed the people he oppressed into doing the exact same thing to others. Naturally when a militia forms enough power to be declared a standing army, it's hard to reign control of the violence. A man named Dragan Nicolaevich is the head of a militia group known as the Balkan Dragons, or Baldra. His father was a high ranking general in the Serbian army during the Yugoslav Wars. When he was ten he was already a delinquent, when he was in his twenties before the Iron Curtain fell he traveled throughout Western Europe where his crimes ranged from robbery to murder. But his father was tired of bailing him out so he gave him an ultimatum. Join the army or be cut off forever. Naturally when the Bosnian War happened he took a rather intricate part in it, he was one of the many execution officers for the Serbs. He's in his 50's now and he still thinks he's trying to let the world know that it can't touch him and that the war is still going on. We're dealing with world class scum here."

This was a story I knew all too well. While I had to stay with my Uncle Eric, my dad's second older brother, my father was part of the group that had to collect evidence on the numerous war crimes that were going on in the Balkans on all sides. While it was the Serbs who did most of the mass executions, it also included the Croats and Muslims. But after the massacres at Srebrenica and Markale, NATO had had enough of the senseless bloodshed and brought the war to a swift halt. While most of those who were responsible, namely Milosevic, were apprehended not all of them were caught. They used a bunch of red tape and political connections to keep going on with their lives like nothing happened. Ratko Mladic was in the UN spotlight several times but they still haven't arrested him and dragged him out of Serbia for the shit he pulled. I'd also heard of this Nicolaevich guy before, when I was doing bodyguard work for a crooked casino owner in Montenegro. It never surprised me that communists tended to use the worst people to get their shit across. Desecrating remains, rapes, torture, this is one of those guys I'd kill based on principle. But I wouldn't blame the Serbs themselves on whatever shitholes that guys like Nicolaevich crawled out of. It's not possible to save everyone in the world, no one can be everywhere.

"Miss Hekmatyar's business is only for the Serbian State Army but if Baldra shows up then this will get ugly. For both of us unfortunately. But it doesn't change what we have come here to do. Whether it be Afghanistan, Iraq, Indonesia, Palestine, The Congo, Somalia, anywhere, it's our job to help people and let the world know what we see!"

I then checked my watch. I then got Maggie's attention.

"You see that container at the very end of the plane?"

"Yes."

"We're not unloading that one. Once we touch ground you and your crew will be disguised as cargo so you'll have to hide under a tarp."

"What if they find us?"

"It won't come to that. _I_ won't let it come to that. I may look like a gorgeous slab of meat but I'm actually quite smart and my group is some the best in the world."

She then looked up and smiled at me. I had no intention of failing to get these people where they needed to go.

 **0715 Hours**

 **Osonica Air Base, Serbia**

The cargo to deliver to the Serbian army was three 122mm D-30 Howitzers. No longer in production in Russia but it's old satellites still had factories that would produce them and were still being used today. Quite the interesting design it had, mobile and could be placed in one spot and have a 360 angle of fire. We off loaded the guns and the Serb captain was ready to do business with Koko.

"I can't thank you enough for making this delivery Miss Hekmatyar. You're a lifesaver, now I can train my men on some brand new equipment."

"There's no need for such praise. Thank you for doing business with HCLI."

"I do have one more question if it's not too much trouble. I understand that usually you come with more than enough cargo to fill an order and you'll part with the excess goods if the price is right."

 _Oh God. Please don't let this be another greedy asshole._

"Afraid I have to disappoint you captain. It's true we make those kinds of deals on maritime delivers, the amount of weight we brought on our plane put us at maximum capacity. We couldn't bring anything else."

"Ohh...my misunderstanding I didn't think of that." He said apologetically.

I shut my eyes and relaxed my shoulders. That was a relief.

"Well let's make a payment, if you check your banks, HCLI should be getting the deposit now."

"Of course. Damien, the papers."

As I was telling the captain where to sign Koko made her way towards Mao. He was eyeing the artillery.

"Feeling a little nostalgic?"

"Nah. Just remembering how often I shot these things."

"Well the moment Damien is done with the paper work we leave."

As the captain was finished signing I noticed a black Mercedes Benz pull up and men with black beret's stepped out and approached us. I didn't speak Serbo-Croatian but I didn't need to figure out that this guy was about to chew the captain out.

"Najam nepozvani gosti lutaju okolo kapetan? Da li ste budala?"

(Letting uninvited guests wander around captain? Are you a fool?)

 _Oh shit don't tell me this guy is who I think he is._

He then looked at me with a slight moment of confusion but then acknowledgment and then towards Koko and addressed her in English.

"Miss Hekmatyar pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'll cut straight to the chase yes? You have something on board that you're not supposed to have, please show me."

"Mr. Nicoleavich."

She hid it well but I didn't need to figure out that she was freaking out on the inside. A very large and angry group of hornets was right on top of us.

"I don't like repeating myself. Let me make that easy for you, I know full well you got ten doctors inside your plane. I want them now!"

"I'm sorry I have no idea what you're talking about and you're not my client in this transaction. I'm not about to discuss my cargo let alone show it to you. That plane is also a part of my kingdom and I choose my guests."

This guy had a very short fuse. And his thugs were itching for a fight as well. I had to brace for the inevitable so I flicked the safety off my carbine as discreetly as I could.

"Your giving me lip? This part of the country belongs to me and you're on it. We're wasting time, kapetan!"

Not even caring that I was standing next to him he hit him with his radio and made a rallying gesture. Several trucks were coming to the plane.

"Sta si mislio je doveo na ovu bazu, kao i on!? Da li znate ko jo ovo!? Ovo je nocna mora."

(What were you thinking letting her on this base as well as him!? Do you know who this is!? This is the Nightmare.)

"Gospodine, ja ne znam ko je to. Nema potrebe da se ovo u veliku stvar."

(Sir, I don't know who that is. There's no need to make this into a big deal.)

I couldn't understand what they were saying but the way he looked at me and the way the words _nocna mora_ sounded I didn't need to figure out that Nicoleavich had known of my exploits in Eastern Europe. I probably capped one or two of his so called friends. As the rest of his militia came out of the trucks and formed into a platoon, Koko pulled me and the captain over to her.

"Well son of a bitch. The dragon just laid it's eggs."

"I'm sorry for that display, I didn't like it any more than you did."

"Don't worry, I'm just glad you're not bleeding that bad."

I took out one of my field dressings and handed it to him. He hit him harder than it looked.

"Why do you let that communist leftover get away with that shit? You guys are a real army shouldn't you be able to flat out tell the militia to get the hell off this base?"

He sighed deeply. "That may be true on paper Mr. Andrushko but that weasel is somewhat of a hero in this part of the country. He keeps pulling in poorly informed patriotic thugs to help expand his power."

"Where are your men anyway?"

"I gave them an order to withdraw to the hangers and stay there. Miss Hekmatyar I won't ask what you have inside the plane. But for you Mr. Andrushko he knows who you are and of the bounty on your head."

"I kinda figured that. It's not the CIA's bounty am I right?"

"Yes. I suggest you get out of here while you still can."

Koko then addressed him. "You're a wonderful man captain! We'll do just that."

Then came the distinct sound of guns racking.

"Don't think that you're getting out of here that easily. Those doctor's as well as you Nightmare are going to die. And all that money that was placed on your head will do quite well to support my militia. Of course I'll need proof that I did capture you. Who doesn't love a good snuff film?"

I didn't know how the hell he found out that I was with Koko's company but at this point I didn't care. He was prying into my violent side and if he didn't back off it was gonna blow up in his face.

"I'm only gonna warn you once you pile of dragon shit. Don't test me, you know what will happen."

The man had the same arrogant smirk Kasper did. He really didn't know what the hell he was doing.

"Why do you think I came prepared? But I'm honestly more surprised at you Miss Hekmatyar. You know who this man is and you think he really works for you? Everywhere he goes it's nothing but destruction and bodies and if you think for one second that you have a monster like this under control trust me, you don't."

As I turned to Koko I saw a part of her I'd never seen before. Her composure was calm but her fist was shaking and her eyes were full of seething rage. I knew she always liked to cling on me cause I thought she just like to play around. But even with all the horrible things I've done, she something different in me. What, I don't know but she wouldn't allow Baldra to take me.

"Damien belongs to me. He's part of my family and he saved my life. Whoever you think he is, he's not that monster anymore!"

After a few tense seconds, R and Lutz spoke up.

"Doctor! What are you doing out here!?"

"Get back in the plane!"

 _Fuck._

He slowly stepped off the plane and stood a considerable distance between Baldra. Me, Koko, and Valmet in the center but not within their line of sight.

"Colonel Nicoleavich, I'm Dr. Riviere of Medecins Sans Frontieres, Miss Hekmatyar brought me here because I pressured her to do so. I'd also like to speak with you if you please hear me out."

"Sure."

He then pulled out his sidearm and shot him the shoulder. Valmet and I immediately got in front of Koko.

 _Well that went as expected._

"Doctor please I know who you are, you patch up the people I shoot. That makes you my enemy."

He then fired again, the round chipping the side of his face. I then eyeballed Lehm and he used our hand gestures.

 _You take his left. I'll take his right._

"Valmet, stay with Koko."

We both moved subtly to Baldra, the asshole having a little too much fun to notice.

"Stop squirm-AHH!"

Lehm knocked his sidearm out of his hand.

"That's enough shooting for today I suggest you behave yourself."

His lackeys began cursing at Lehm but I snuck up behind them both and grabbed the backs of their necks. Using my height advantage and superior strength I forced them both face first into the tarmac. Blood, missing teeth and screaming came from both of them.

"Koko?" I said like a curious child with a devilish smirk.

"TAKE'EM OUT!"

 _Dragons are just make believe fairy tales. Human beings are a hell of a lot more terrifying cause we're real. My friends and I are gonna prove that to you Baldra._


	17. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:** I just got back from watching F8 and I am FUCKING motivated! I recently went over my old chapters and did a lot of proofreading. Some of them were a little short so I added some extra meat and fixed the way they were presented. Hit a bit of a snag in my most recent one and I need some time.

 **Chapter 16: Raining Fire**

 **July 26** **th** **2010 0745 Hours**

 **Osonica Air Base, Serbia**

The best way that a solider can achieve his maximum potential is to allow him to cut loose. This however all depends on three things, his or her training, intelligence, and ability to work as a team. If all three work in perfect tandem then their potential can be limitless. Good news for me since I had a piece of each of the best special forces units in the world. Bad news for Baldra and his gang of wannabe tough guys.

The opening shots fired was louder that I thought since most of Nicoleavich's men were out in the open without cover. The team opened up with full auto and not letting their fingers off the triggers. Most of them went down before they had a chance to take cover. As Nicoleavich bolted away from Lehm and me, I tried to grab Dr. Rivere but a spray of bullets separated us. There were five trucks that were parked at random around the plane along with Baldra's Mercedes, Lehm and I put our backs together and covered each other as we made for the nearest truck. Valmet took Koko to the plane with R and Lutz taking cover inside the plane then laid suppressing fire with her MK46. After Lehm and I took cover I shouted to the Doctor.

"Rivere! Stay down and don't move!" I then flipped my radio switch. "Wiley, how many are there!?"

"No idea! But not as many as there was 10 seconds ago!"

Three things we had to keep safe, the plane, the doctor's and each other everything else is collateral. While some of what remained of the militia were firing from the cover of their trucks most tried to rush us and get in close. They never got more than three steps. When you need to defend an area it's easier than you might think. One thing I always hated about Army operations is that they made EVERYTHING sound more complicated than it needed to be. When defending an area you don't move from your spot unless the incoming fire is too great. All you really need to do is stay in cover, call out direction and description of the enemy, and keep communicating with each other. Far cry from Baldra and his men, they looked like they never been actually shot back at before. A lot of the damn fools didn't even take cover. As we took down one black beret after another I noticed that Nicoleavich was not among the corpses.

 _Where are you, you bastard?_

As I took cover back behind the trucks engine block, Lehm and I both reloaded. However in the haste of finding cover we didn't check to see if the back of the truck was clear. Two militia appeared behind us, we dove to the ground but they already had us in their sights. But before they could fire, a large spray ripped through them both. We both reloaded our carbines quickly I mentioned to Lehm to stay and I would make towards the end of the truck. I peeked over and breathed a sigh of relief, Valmet.

"Nice save, appreciate it."

"It's not over yet." She said checking how much of her belt was left.

I then looked up and saw four coming right at us. "BEHIND YOU!"

I then darted out of cover quickly and took a knee on her left side as she performed a 180 degree spin. We both lit them up but while she used short bursts I accidentally didn't take my finger off the trigger and kneeled down to reload again.

"Reloading! Cov…"

Fortunately for me she was focused on the enemy in front of us but I had a bit of a problem trying to stop staring. Naturally when you're firing in full auto mode your body tends to shake. But two things also shook a little bit more on her than they wanted to and then my thoughts drifted back to yesterday afternoon when she was in her bikini.

 _Goddamnit. Focus on the fight. Focus on the fight. Focus on the fight._

After regaining my focus, and praying she wouldn't shoot me, I then noticed movement by the Mercedes. Baldra was loading Riviere into his car and he was gonna make a break for it. I then noticed that the gun fire had died down. After checking to see that there wasn't any more militia in my current area I motioned to Valmet I was moving and made for some of the crates we offloaded from the plane. I then saw Baldra running to the driver seat, I had to stop him or else he'd be back with his entire militia.

"BALDRA!"

He then turned around with a mixture of anger and fear. His prize was now staring him down waiting to kill. His plan to try and take me had gone up in smoke. The dragon's nightmare had come to claim him. Whether I knew it or not, I had a cold personification on employing my anger on those that truly deserved it.

 _Die._

But before I could aim, Koko came on the net.

"Hold your fire Damien. Don't kill him."

"What!? He's gonna get away!"

"I said don't kill him!"

As I looked back at Nicoleavich he was already in his car but his engine was sputtering. It must have taken damage from the fire fight, it had a problem turning over. I was about to lose my chance at giving us more time to prep the plane and escape.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Koko only said not to kill him, she didn't say not to go and grab him. I sprinted full speed to the car with my carbine ready to smash the window to grab him but the engine came to life. My weapon bash hit the back seat window instead of the front seat and he sped off. I tried to put a few single shot's to his tires but he was moving away too fast. I missed my mark.

"Fuck!"

As I stood frustrated on the tarmac, the fighting had stopped. The team came in on the radio one at a time.

"All clear." Wiley.

"All clear." R.

"All clear." Mao.

"All clear." Valmet.

"Plane's intact, All clear." Ugo.

"Our casualties?" Koko.

"Zero." Lehm.

The adrenaline was still pumping. I knew Koko had always had a plan for everything but I couldn't get over the fact that she binded us in a way. I then noticed a reflection from off the ground, it was the camera Baldra was using. I walked over to it and decided to take out my frustration on that.

"Piece of shit." I growled and smashed it with my boot.

 **0809 Hours**

"I can't believe what you have done! You've turned my airfield into a graveyard Miss Hekmatyar!"

The Serb captain was freaking out. He definitely knew that there was gonna be no way to cover something this big up. As his men were clearing the bodies of the militia off the airfield, Koko came up to him from behind.

"This had all gone a lot easier if Nicoleavich and his militia had behaved themselves." She then turned to the group.

"Question is how the hell are we gonna get out of the country. By plane right now?" Tojo went first.

"They'll shoot us out of the sky the moment they see us. How about by land?" Said Lutz.

"We can't bring our _cargo_ with us like that." Said Koko.

I often found that asking blunt questions got me more direct answers. Problem with that though was that I was always seen as hostile when I did that.

"We would have had more options to get away and less problems if I just wasted Baldra, and he also got away with one of the doctors."

As expected I got a few looks of everyone telling me to calm down. But I was gonna make my point stand.

"Which also wouldn't have happened if I just killed him. I had the shot Koko, why didn't you let me take it?"

She then just looked up to me like I was asking normally.

"Sorry Damien. But he didn't deserve a quick death, especially by you. A swords worth is measured by the nobility of the lives it takes. When I said you were a part of my family, I meant that. You know family looks out for each other and I'm not going to let you fall back into who you were."

Once again that light speed mind slowed down enough for me to catch up. I felt like a bit of an idiot. In the last few months I never really quite wondered why Koko was taking such an interest in me. I knew she liked to cling on me and hug me like a girlfriend wanting her significant other to notice her but that was all she did. I'd be lying if I said she wasn't attractive but we both kept it professional.

"Besides, letting Baldra getting away suites my needs."

 _And back to light speed. How the hell's letting him get away help us?_

As the team began brainstorming ideas on how to get away, Mao then spoke up.

"Hey guys, what about the artillery we just sold them? We could use one of those to take out any type of anti-air defense if they try to shoot us down."

While the rest of us couldn't really process what the hell we just heard, Koko then jumped at it and turned to the Serb captain as his troops loaded the last of the militia corpses into their trucks.

"Captain! I know this might seem like an odd request but we would like to buy one of the cannons back from you at double the price we sold for you. One gun and maybe two hours and we'll leave."

He looked at her like she was out of her mind and I still hadn't figured out how this plan was gonna work.

"Hardball huh? Ok then, next time you buy from us it doesn't matter what it is I'll make it 25% off."

"Ugh. Ok do whatever you need to do."

"Ok listen up! Ugo, get the plane ready to take off! Everyone listen to Mao, he's in charge and he's gonna make this work! Hop to it!"

 **0942 Hours**

I was getting a little antsy considering that Nicoleavich and his militia hadn't come back yet in force. But it looked like we were gonna get out of here with the ability to fight back. The only problem though was we were working against the clock and trying to make a jury rigged AC-130 gunship could prove to be as dangerous to us as well as whoever we were shooting at. We had to take the cannon apart so that it could fit at the tail of the plane properly and heavily secure it so that when it fired it remained where it was and not rip the plane apart. Since we had no computer targeting system Mao was frankly using iron sights at 8,000 feet and the plane had to be above the target he was gonna fire at. If we pulled this shit off it was gonna be our biggest miracle to date.

"You do realize you're only gonna get one shot at those anti-air batteries. Cause we do have a finite number of flares and worst case scenario this thing can't outfly MIGs."

"Don't be such a skeptic Damien. I know this ain't a Spectre but it's better than flying off with nothing."

As we continued to put the finishing touches on our new gunship Koko walked up the ramp. Maggie was staring at us with concern.

"I'm sorry again about causing you all so much trouble. Had we known Baldra was looking for us we would have never come along with you. And Dr. Rivere wouldn't have been kidnapped."

"Don't blame yourselves. Baldra and I are the real troublemakers for you. But for now I suggest you and the rest secure yourselves. Talk to Captain Holtz, he'll give you some helmets. This ride is going to be rough."

Ten minutes later we secured the howitzer and were ready for takeoff. This all rested on Mao, Ugo, and Holtz. They were the ones keeping us safe. Wiley and Lehm were Mao's cannon crew and I then noticed one of the 122mm shells with the Russian Cyrillic writing translated "Air Burst". Even though that meant he didn't need to hit the AA Site he still had a slow firing cannon. It didn't change the fact I was scared out of my mind. I then looked to Maggie and she was just as afraid.

"You're not alone. Even I'm not sure this bat shit plan is gonna work."

She then looked at me and changed the subject. And not in a way I wanted to think about right now.

"I overheard Baldra talking to you. He called you _Nightmare_ what does that mean?"

I sighed deeply. "Maggie I'm sorry. But you shouldn't know the answer to that. And quite frankly now is not the time."

After we got off the ground we started gaining a little more speed than we did when we first arrived. I kept my earpiece covered and tuned into the chatter between Koko and Captain Holtz.

"Ok we're gonna be passing over their AA positions now. Captain activate the IR jammers!"

"IR jammers activated! Ugo keep an eye on the radar and your finger on the flare launcher."

"Got it!"

Not more than two seconds after that a large explosion happened outside. The AA batteries were opening up on us. I looked out the window and noticed tracer rounds zooming by. Being part of an airborne group meant this was a worst case scenario for a combat jump over hostile territory and it had been the same since World War II. Big, slow moving, low flying targets full of casualties was easy pickings for the enemy on the ground. It was the same for an AC-130 Spectre, since they needed to fly low to get the air support to the troops below they were in constant danger of AA fire. It's why they always did their fire support missions at night. But I couldn't do anything, this was one of the few times I wish I could have helped but field artillery was not among my training.

"Holtz get us some altitude!"

"Shit! Incoming missile!"

"Fire off the flares!"

The inside of the plane rumbled like crazy, shouts were drowned out by the explosions and random noise. I felt like I was at Normandy just wanting to get out of the plane and fight. We weren't gonna be able to take another barrage like that, Mao was waiting to get on the cannon and let them have it, he then got his wish.

"Mao! You're up! Don't let them fire again!"

"Got it Koko! Lehm! Wiley!"

They sprung up and took their positions. Mao aligned his sight as Lehm scanned the ground with his binos and Wiley loaded the first shell.

"I got visual! Our two at that cliff!"

"Holtz! I need to get an angle on them! Climb and shift left! Get me above them!"

"Got it!"

 _You can do this Mao. Drop the pain on 'em._

"Everyone cover your ears! FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

The howitzer fired, the pressure was felt, the noise was ear splitting, but the plane kept flying. Mao took the binos from Lehm. I hoped the next thing he said was good.

"Direct hit! Unload that second round were good!"

Howls and cheers of victory filled the plane and I was never more relieved, Mao saved all of us. Koko then came on the net.

"You still got it Mao, outstanding job I'm proud of you. But were not out of the woods yet, we still gotta get the doctor's to Kosovo. And one more issue we have to take care of but first let's get away from the militia."

In that moment I realized I was the only one who didn't proactively acknowledge Mao's success. I then remembered a thing platoon's did when they marched. It seemed appropriate and rather nostalgic.

 _Thirteen bravo!_

 _Raining fire!_

 _King of battle follow me!_

 _Field artillery!_

After a small acknowledgement from the crew on where I was getting at I felt a tug on my shirt.

"What song is that?" Maggie asked.

"It's not a song Maggie. It's a marching cadence. Thirteen bravo is the US Army designation for a soldier that is field artillery."

 **1026 Hours**

"Lehm, you called it. I'm never doing air mail with Koko again!"

It wasn't even noon yet and I had the nasty feeling I was gonna need a clean pair of shorts before then. It was now official, my life had completely turned into an action movie. I just hoped I didn't start speaking with an Austrian accent in the process.

"I told you flying with Koko is never good!"

"Shut up you two! Holtz can you set this down properly?"

"According to the map the only straightest strip of road I can see with no traffic is 118. All I have to do is stay away from the power lines."

"Make it so. We'll touch down there."

 _Yeah I'm gonna need to change my pants._

With the right amount of constant training and flying a pilot can put a plane on the ground without the use of a control tower and keep his passengers safe. Be actually part of one though meant you had your doubts and this flight was shitty enough as it was. But if Mao could level an AA site with ground based howitzer in the sky then Holtz and Ugo could put this thing on the ground. The plane slowly creeped down to the road and the touchdown was rougher than a normal runway. But it was still intact and the plane slowly came to a halt. Looks like this was gonna be the MSF's drop off point. As everyone started getting off the plane I kept in my seat and took off my helmet, Maggie got up in front of me.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I need to let the adrenaline cool down. I'll be outside in a moment."

"I didn't picture a guy like you would be afraid of anything."

"Well I haven't turned into B.A. Baracus just yet."

She chuckled and then left. After taking a few seconds I heard Koko from the cockpit.

"Scarecrow my old friend." As if she meant that.

 _The hell is she calling him for!?_

"I don't have a lot of time so I'll give you one chance or I hang up and I think your gonna want this deal."

I unbuckled myself and made my way to the cockpit. I had to hear this for myself, this is probably what she meant by suiting her needs.

"I'm in Serbia right now, not too far outside of Kosovo. I've found Nicoleavich, and I'm willing to sell him to you and you'll get all the credit for the price on his head of $5 million."

" _Tempting but I'm not in the habit of helping arms dealers expand their business."_ I heard on the phone.

"Too bad. You are stupider than you sound." She then hung up and dialed a different number.

"Hey Schokolade. I've found Nicoleavich and for $5 million, he's all yours."

" _Deal! Where's he at?"_

"He's tracking us right now. Call the Marines in Kosovo and tell them to get ready for a snatch and grab. I'll call you back and let you know exactly where to pick him up."

She then hung up and looked down to me standing in the cockpit door smiling as normal.

"I owe you an apology from earlier. You wanted to let the CIA owe you one and I'm guessing you could have used that favor to keep me safe."

She didn't answer but instead ruffled my hair like a dog. I then went outside with the others, I saw Maggie finish packing her rucksack on the side of the road.

"You guys almost ready to go? Should be a lengthy walk but you'll make it to Kosovo without much trouble since we're out of Baldra's reach."

"Yes I just need to speak with Miss Hekmatyar and well go."

She paused and then looked at me as if she was analyzing something, I didn't need to figure out what she was going to ask.

"Your eyes. They're very gentle and you seem like the type of man that will always keep his friends safe. Why did Nicoleavich call you _The Nightmare_?"

I shut my eyes, unslung my 416, undid my ponytail and sat on a rock. It was natural that my name wasn't really public knowledge and I couldn't let her know who I really was.

"You know what Koko does so you should also know that she doesn't discriminate from who she hires. You think of Nicoleavich as a monster but he's a saint compared to me. The only real difference between the two of us is that I do my absolute damnedest to make sure that I hold on to my humanity."

There was no answer from her. How could there be? As I could only imagine how Maggie was looking at me Koko then addressed us all again.

"Well that sucked. We should be lucky, if they had something I'd sold them it would have been much worse."

While that got a rise out of everyone I stayed silent but Lutz at least shared my frustration.

"That ain't that funny we almost died!"

"Miss Hekmatyar?" Maggie spoke up. "I just wanted to say that we appreciate you help but we can walk from here to Kosovo. We'll transfer the rest of the money as soon as possible."

Koko then held up her hand. "Hold on now. I still have not held up my end of our business agreement and I don't cut corners. I agreed to get ten doctor's to where they needed to go and we're one short. We are gonna bring him back for you."

An expression of joy came over Maggie's face, looked like I wasn't the only one that wanted to keep their humanity in check.

"Ok Tojo get the sat-com working I need to get in touch with HQ. Lehm, Wiley, Mao be prepared to move out. Everyone else will hunker down here and guard the plane."

 **1140 Hours**

It had already dawned on me long ago that Koko's company tended to act way more as a military unit rather than using the simple business model of buying and selling arms. But then again what's the point of selling all this equipment if you don't know anything about it. I was looking over Tojo's shoulder on his laptop, HCLI had scanned GPS coordinates and managed to lock on to Baldra's Mercedes using a down looking satellite. The bullet holes in the car were a dead giveaway it was him.

"So your still tracking him?"

…

"Ugh, you don't need to repeat what I said just a simple yes will do. And by the way, I figured it out. It's one of Floyd's scenarios isn't it?"

 _Uh-oh. I didn't see this one coming._

…

The other end was taking a little too much time. I could tell by the look on her face that her relationship to her father was somewhat complicated.

 _At least she can still talk to her dad. I don't even know what mine is doing anymore._

"Well are Scarecrows Marines on their way?"

…

"Ok send the call and I'll get the CIA on the horn. Lehm, Baldra is heading right for us time to go hunting."

"Yes ma'am." Wide grin and cigarette in his mouth as usual.

Looks like I wasn't with the hunting party this time. Can't really go on all the trips or else you'd burn yourself out. After a few minutes Koko, looking out to the plains and mountains, started on one of her own philosophical lectures again.

"When a man kills enough people he's no longer a man, he becomes a dragon. They are terrible beasts that guard their selfish treasure, and their need for violence grows with their greed. Then they lose all vestiges of their humanity. They are monsters of our own creation and can't be allowed to exist. In ancient lore it's always been said that dragon slaying is a great honor. It's strange but I ought to be thanking Baldra."

"Hmm. Good lesson Professor Koko but there's one flaw in that. Dragons are make believe, human being are real and they're a hell of a lot more terrifying."

Before I could go any further a massive blast had erupted a few miles down the road.

"A perfect example, my good friend Mr. Nelson's knowledge of making shit go boom!"

I pressed my earpiece to listen in on the chatter.

"Nice! Scary good with explosives Wiley!"

"I planted another one of those flechette rounds you fired. Didn't even know what hit em."

 _Baldra or the doctor better not get caught in the steel rain or were screwed._

After a few tense minutes Lehm came on the horn.

"We got the chief doctor and the angry asshole. Send the Marines the pickup coordinates Koko."

"We got Rivere everyone, they'll be on their way back but he'll need some help."

As more celebrations continued Maggie approached Koko a tear in her eye.

"I wasn't sure you'd be able to get to him. We can't thank you enough. It's also a little terrifying to see the kind of power and influence you have. I hope you don't mind me saying this but you kind seem like a dragon as well."

There was a slight pause but Koko then bursted out laughing and then made a motion as if she was making wings with her hands.

"Me a dragon? Only if I get to be peaceful fun loving one! No burning or anything."

 _Not to ruin the mood. But indirectly she's responsible for more deaths than both Baldra and me combined._

"Can we go home now please?" I said acting like a begging child.

She walked over to me and put her elbow on top of my head as if she was resting on a table. She then pulled out her sat-phone.

"Almost just one more phone call." She then dialed in Scarecrow. "Scarecrow it's me. I know I made the deal with Schokolade but have you reconsidered?"

" _Yeah fine deal. Now gimme the fucking intel."_

"GPS coordinates should be arriving to you right now. Congratulations, the CIA just nabbed one of the missing war criminals from the Bosnian War."

As we waited for Lehm, Wiley and Mao to come back Holtz and Ugo started up the plane. We had to get out of here fast. The doctor's packed up their stuff and started to move towards Kosovo. As we said our final goodbyes, Maggie approached me.

"Thank you for keeping us safe."

"It's what I…have to do."

I should have seen it coming but she then hugged me so hard I could feel my plate's pressuring on me. I returned the favor, the scene may have looked like an honorable knight letting one of their people know they would always protect them but I am far from honorable.

"Good bye Damien."

"Take care of yourself Maggie."

They all left the moment the rest of the crew got back from placing Nicoleavich where the Marines would pick him up. We then mounted up and took off too. Once we reached cruising altitude I took off my plate carrier and made my way to the cockpit. Koko was sitting on the floor and she looked at me.

"Something wrong Damien?"

"Call your dad."

Her face then straightened. I didn't know what her relationship was like with her father but obviously it was strained at best.

"Damien…"

"Just hear me out. I'm only gonna say my peace and then you can do whatever. When I was in Afghanistan I acted without thinking it through and I abandoned my own family in the process. I don't even know if my father's even alive or dead. I have forever lost the ability to patch things up with him but if you've got any issue's with yours then you have the time and ability to straighten them out now. You're looking out for me, this will be my way of looking out for you and if you need help I'll provide it."

She didn't answer and her face was still straight when I walked back to the plane's cargo bay. But I did hear the beeps of numbers being punched in. It'd be best to let that conversation be private. As I made to the group, I then sat down next to Valmet.

"It's not even two yet and the days over. Don't you just love early get out of work days?"

"I do." A slight smirk then turned to a scowl followed by slaps to my head.

"OW! OW! HEY! CUT IT OUT! HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT! DAMN! OW!"

I then grabbed her hand and we both got into our arm lock pose again.

"What the fuck did I do!?"

She then lean her head forward and said in a growling whisper.

"I only have a lack of depth perception, I'm not blind. I saw how you were looking at me on the airfield."

 _Crap._

For some strange reason I got the feeling that this exact same thing happened to R yesterday. Out of lack of anything else to say I just said what I needed to say and hoped the crew didn't catch on. They were watching us as if they were begging for something to blow.

"Well…next time don't hold the trigger down!"

"UGH! God you are such a pig!"

"Hey! I don't go around slapping people just cause they wanted to talk to me!"

"JACKASS!"

"DUMB BROAD!"

"LADY BOY!"

"BIMBO ON STEROIDS!"

"Will you two just screw and get it over with?"

"SHUT UP LUTZ!" We screamed together.


	18. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** We're back! Thank you all for the growing amount of follows and favorites. Now here come's the part where Damien was cursed with the title of "Nightmare". I based a few incidents that Damien will witness in the next few chapters that actually happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. None of course so extreme but a few of them that actually happened were kind of hard to believe, even though they were true.

 **Dreaming of Glory:** You're preaching to the choir man. I have no idea why no one really took the time to upload a serious Jormungand FF.

 **Chapter 17: Off The Reservation**

 **July 31** **st** **2010 1420 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Fruition**_ **, The Mediterranean Sea**

Our next destination was going to be Alexandria, Egypt. We would get more details on the buyers when we got there but as I was standing out on the deck after my run I then remembered that we passed by Greece and then I thought about the Odyssey. How Odysseus, or Ulysses depending on how you read it, wandered the sea for ten years trying to return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. While he had many adventures and braved and survived many perils, he was the only one left who returned home. Considering on how long rides by ship took it's no wonder it had to have been ten years. But I hoped that all of us made it to whichever destination we going to arrive at, at the end of our journey. But it looked like someone was gonna end theirs a little sooner rather than later. I had a few suspicions when we first left South Africa, she wanted closure on her past badly. I couldn't blame her, she was the sole survivor of her unit and was left as a scapegoat to cover up a failure. Naturally she wanted to get back at the man who ruined her life, Guoming Chan. Since Scarecrow was tailing both Koko and Chan, I didn't need to figure out that Valmet was gonna use Schokolade to dig up any info on his whereabouts and since we were heading to North Africa it would be closer to area's that had strong Chinese influence. In a way she and I were very similar. Except where she got caught up in a situation she couldn't handle, I chose the path of my own destruction and I will never find closure. All I could do is pray that my sins wouldn't rot me away from within. As she was looking out to the sea I could tell she was deep in thought. She had to be planning something but I just wasn't sure when. She didn't even notice me walk up to her.

"You've been a little quiet since we found out were heading to Egypt. Something on your mind?"

She didn't answer so I nudged her shoulder.

"Hello? Earth to Valmet?"

"What do you want Damien?" She said with hostility.

"Ok if you're gonna start slapping me because I show concern for a teammate then you, me, and Koko are gonna have a nice long chat."

She sighed. "I'm ok I'm sorry, it's just that were heading back to Africa so soon."

"I can actually sympathize with you on that. We've been bouncing back and forth between three continents for five months it feels weird that we've been all over the place."

"Isn't this any different from when you were still a mercenary?"

"I actually stayed in one spot for lengthy periods. I never really did constant traveling. In fact the longest I've ever stayed in one spot was when I was still a teenager and lived with my dad in Virginia until I went off to West Point."

She then looked down at the water, I decided to keep the conversation going and hoped she didn't think it would come off weird.

"Is the hunting in Finland any good? I know the fauna there in Europe is almost identical to the United States but it all depends on where you go."

"Actually it is. Even though over half of all land and freshwater are privately owned Finland has the largest amount of people to actually hunt in all of Europe. All you really need is a license to hunt, own a firearm, and permission from the land owners. But to hunt specific animals like bear you need a license for them."

"Ha! Far cry from America. All you really need is just provide proof that you're eighteen and you can get damn near anything. You don't even need to be a good shot either. When I was just a kid I just had to sit through a bunch of boring lectures and at the end of the week I got my junior license."

"For someone like you that doesn't surprise me, just answer what each color is and say the alphabet and you pass."

"Ok one, the jokes about me being one of those moron muscle heads from all those 80's comedies have run its course. And second, you're kinda right but not everyone is Simo Hayha."

She then raised her eyebrow at me, he was Finland's national hero. Nicknamed White Death by the Soviets, he was barely five foot three but his accuracy with a rifle at long range using no scope and only iron sights made him one of the deadliest men in history. And one of the toughest as he nearly had his entire face blown off by an explosive round.

"I'm surprised you even know who that is."

"I've heard of Chris Kyle's exploits in Iraq that's put him in the US spotlight as the next Alvin York but he pales in comparison to the man who killed over 500 Russians during the Winter War."

It went on for longer than I had expected but she was starting to catch on. We weren't shop talkers and she knows I'm not that open to lengthy discussions.

"Ok is this starting to go anywhere? You're probably the most anti-social out of all of us so what are you getting at?"

Thinking about what Koko said to Baldra a few days ago. I decided to use Koko's little habit. I figure I end this now, hopefully she wouldn't catch on. I knew ever since South Africa that she was gonna wait for a perfect opportunity to go after Chan. If I had the opportunity to find a way to get my life back I would take every chance I got to make sure that happened. I had to help her. I walked beside her, wrapped my arm around her side, and leaned closer to her. She let out a slight gasp.

"What are you doing?"

"Koko said that I was part of her family now. It took me a while but it finally sank in a few days ago. She may be the mysterious type but I can tell when her genuine feelings come out. Amalia may have only seen me as a sympathetic case but no one in the last two years has ever made any attempt to take me out of the dark pit that I threw myself into. Koko reached in and started to pull me out regardless of the fact of all the shit I've done. What I'm getting at, is that I want to follow her example. I thought you should know that, Sophia."

I let her go and walked away. As I made for the hatch to go inside she spoke.

"Does that example have anything to do with having a key to a new world?"

I answered without looking at her.

"I don't know if I can answer that yet. I've always been the wanderer."

 **August 2** **nd** **2010 1000 Hours**

 **Alexandria, Egypt, The Four Seasons Hotel, Koko's Suite**

Alexandria, one of the greatest cities of the ancient world and still thrives today. Founded by Alexander the Great over 2,300 years ago it had been erected as a gateway between Greece and the resource rich Nile Valley. Along with the history of being the third most important seat of Christianity in the world it also had the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, The Necropolis, and the Great Library. And like many cities of the ancient world it experienced its fair share of wars ranging from the Romans, to Muhammad, and Napoleon. Now it serves as a port for 80% of Egypt's maritime trade and the trade we were bringing in was guns for the local Italian Mob. I did my best to remain focused in case if this was gonna go smoothly but the way Valmet was zoning out more than usual, I had a feeling this was gonna be the time.

"This job is gonna be a much smaller transaction than normal. Three trucks worth of guns we'll be selling to the local Mafia here, this will just keep us busy until our big missile deal next week. And yes Damien you'll get time to take more pictures."

"Sweet."

That's if I'll be in Egypt long enough to do that, as Koko continued Valmet continued to stare out the window with a thousand yard stare. In tragic stories where normally you're the lone survivor it's natural that you blame yourself. But none of what happened to her and her men was her fault. I could only piece together the details but to me it seemed that they came across an enemy that they didn't expect and it proved too much for them. A perfect example if an infantry squad came across an entire tank battalion, unless you had readily available air support, you got the hell out of there and reported it up to higher. At least she was better off than me, I intentionally caused myself to have PTSD from when I was in Afghanistan. The scary part was that I've barely felt anything after that. Koko then brought her out of her trance.

"HEY!"

"AHH! Koko!"

"Did you hear anything I said? You looked like you were paying less attention than Lutz."

"Hey! Small potatoes, three trucks, jumpiness. I've been listening."

Valmet then sighed and looked down at the table.

"Your right I'm sorry I was zoning out."

 _Once this is done I'm heading back to the ship to get my bug out bag. I ain't risking it._

 **2100 Hours**

One of the benefits of working for Koko was that you had more access to HCLI resources and information gathering. After everyone thought I went to sleep after my shift was over I made a call to one of HCLI's 24 hour responders and they got me in touch with one of their intel members. I was a little surprised on how quickly Chan's record came up, man used to be full-fledged PLA until he got his leg crippled by a landmine in Ethiopia. But then all of a sudden he gets his own trading company, naturally this all seemed a bit sketchy.

"OK I'm looking at Tashinhai finances but you're gonna have to walk me through this. I'm not really good with numbers so give me the layman's terms. And what does any of this have to do with Chan?"

" _Quite a bit Mr. Andrushko. You know on how China has been steadily increasing its influence in Africa this last decade? Well Chan was one of the spearheads that wanted the Chinese to establish trade and infrastructure in Africa. They're starting to take a more capitalistic approach on how they can benefit from the continent."_

"I doubt that the Chinese are using an actual capitalistic approach to this. A lot of Chinese industry is still state run. They may not be as communist as they used to be over 30 years ago but they still rely on that same system."

" _Correct. Chan was a General in the PLA, so naturally they want to protect their assets. They got mining and manufacturing facilities in multiple countries but so far there are seven main special economic zones with one in Mauritius, Ethiopia, a new one being developed in Egypt, and there are two each in Zambia and Nigeria."_

"What's that mean?"

" _Means that they have their own trade and business laws and they don't have to comply with the ones of whichever country they're in. Tashinhai has holds in all of them. But even though there aren't specific ones in Angola or Sudan the Chinese keep a little bit more of an aggressive hold on some of their resource facilities."_

"Let me guess, oil."

" _Exactly. They've been pumping almost or over half of it from both countries. Chan is one of the senior advisors that supervise security at these facilities. It's the same agency all in each country except they just have their own branch."_

"I think I can fill in the rest of the blanks from here on in. Beijing wanted to keep Chan employed so they give him a little slice of Africa to supervise. Naturally since it's run by the Chinese state, all these numbers are legit, even if he wanted to sell guns he could use the excuse of them be sold by the state to another African state. Ok, thanks for the info and if it's not too much trouble don't tell Koko _I_ was the one that asked for this stuff. Kinda doing it for a friend."

" _Of course Mr. Andrushko. Good night."_

"Good night."

I then turned off my laptop and phone and leaned back on my bed and sighed.

 _Christ. Chan's company is all over the friggin continent, he could be anywhere. I hope Sophia has been doing a little more research than I have. I hope that Schokolade girl is not as ditzy as I think she is._

Just then I heard a shower running in the opposite room, Koko and Sophia's. If this was the time it would have been perfect since the next shift wasn't gonna go by our rooms for a while. I then put on a fresh change of clothes and grabbed my bug out bag. Not as large as a rucksack but stylish enough that people wouldn't notice that it was something else. Full of cash, passports, fake ID's, my own emergency sat-phone, optics, and my short range weapons. Even though she has a chance to finally kill and bury some past demons I couldn't bare the fact that there would be a high probability that she would not come back. We both wanted vengeance against those who left us scarred and ruined. But I realized long ago that my so called desire for justice and vengeance against the CIA let me lose control of my anger and blind me and I had no one to blame but myself. I won't let anyone else ruin their lives like that. It then occurred to me on that I cared about Sophia a little more than I should have.

 _Looks aside, she has such a powerful drive to win. She's fierce but also innocent at the same time._

…

 _Why the hell am I feeling this way?_

…

 _Ahh screw it. I'm not the first guy in the world that has ever done something dumb for a woman. Dad probably did the exact same thing when he first met Mom._

As quietly as I could I went outside into the hall and made in the direction not leading to the elevators. Koko's door opened up and Sophia exited without turning around to notice me. I looked at her again and realized her hair was shorter. It was a bit more military reg in style, she was preparing for a fight after all. I let her get in the elevator first and then brought up the next one. Depending on how the next day or several days went it may or may not be the last time I worked for Koko.

 _Not the first time I've gone off the reservation without anyone knowing. At least this one is a hell of a lot more quiet. And if the worst happens I'll just call Koko and tell her to mail me my stuff to wherever I bounce off to._

The moment the elevator got to the lobby I immediately spotted her. I stayed out of sight as best I could and followed her as she left the hotel. She didn't go to the cabs or even the rental stations. Instead I followed her for a few blocks and there was a bus being loaded up. As I took cover behind a building corner she looked like she was asking the driver where he was going. She managed to hitch the ride but I knew I couldn't really just get on the bus and hide in plain sight. I did notice on the back of the bus there was a ladder that allowed you to put suitcases on the roof. As the bus started to get ready I made for the ladder. I just prayed to God that one they wouldn't notice me and two that I wouldn't be eating bugs the whole trip.

 **August 3** **rd** **2010 0500 Hours**

 **Along the Nile River, Highway M75, Egypt**

 _Oh God this fucking sucks!_

Most assuredly the roughest and shittiest bus ride I had ever experienced in my life. At least the road was well paved and I didn't have to worry about my skin being torn off by sand since it was a calm night. The bus then began to slow down and since we were almost in the middle of nowhere this had to be her stop. As I looked down and saw Sophia exiting the bus, thank God it was my stop too. Using the engine noise, I quickly jumped off the roof and waited until the bus left. I checked my watch and it was little more than an hour until the sun came up. The sky was quite clear and the stars were still out reflecting off the Nile. I then looked at Sophia walking along the road taking her time. I then approached her, she was not expecting me to be all the way out here.

 _Lord Almighty. My life really has turned into one hell of an adventure. One fallen warrior that will make sure to catch the other one. Kinda romantic in a way. Far cry from the tragedy it began with, I hope at least I can make this one have a happy ending._

"So where are we actually heading?"

Shock and disbelief were an understatement.

"Damien!? What are you doing here!? You followed me!?"

"Look save it. If you can't tell I've had wind blasting me in the face for the last eight hours and I'm in no mood to argue on why I'm here. According to my GPS the nearest town is Asyut on the other side of the river. We should be able to make it there by sunrise."

"We? There's no "We". This has nothing to do with you. This is something I have to do by myself."

"I said I'm in no mood to argue so shut up and let's go. Like it or not you're stuck with me and we're in the middle of nowhere. We can argue all you want _after_ we figure out what the hell we're gonna do next."

I then walked ahead of her, I didn't need to know she was burning a hole in the back of my head. She then ran up next to me.

"God you are a fucking egotistical asshole!"

 _Somehow I get the feeling that this is just mild frustration compared to how Koko is going to react once she figures out the both of us are gone._

 **0830 Hours**

 **Asyut, Egypt**

After a long silent walk and getting cleaned up in an old inn, Sophia was waiting for me at a table in a room away from the people there. Naturally she didn't want me there but I was gonna prove that I wasn't just there to satisfy my ego. I sat down and looked her dead in the eye.

"Ok. NOW we can argue."

"Look I want you to go back to Koko now. I told you this has nothing to do with you."

"Not happening, Sophia."

Without warning a punch came to my face. Looked like I'll have to play serious to get her to listen to me, and it was gonna be a long trip to where were going.

"Damn it! This is for your own good! I'm not letting anyone else get dragged into my problems!"

Making sure I had no teeth missing I looked back at her and answered.

"Urrrgh. Last I checked you're not in charge of me. I told you on the ship what Koko did for me so I'm not only doing what's best for her but you as well. And you're wrong about another thing, this _does_ have something to do with me."

"How exactly?"

"You are my friend. And judging from the way you've been acting since South Africa you were planning on leaving and never coming back. You're doing exactly what I did two years ago when I abandoned my unit in Afghanistan. I'm not gonna let you go off and do the same mistakes I did without thinking it through."

Her eyes widened with surprise and I didn't let her respond.

"I know that a CIA tech girl named Schokolade was giving some intel to Koko for a while now. I didn't need to put two and two together that you asked her for a few favors on intel about Chan. I've been doing my own homework too, Tashinhai has several holds in the Chinese economic zones throughout Africa. Some of them are in Sudan which I have a feeling is where we're heading. And if he's not there we'll just look for him in another country. I asked some of the intel guys at HCLI to give me a few things that can help us."

Naturally it took her longer to respond, she had no idea what to say and I couldn't blame her. Intelligence gathering was a necessary part of training for being a Green Beret. She then stood up from her chair and her face straightened.

"Wow. You are just full of surprises aren't you? No wonder everyone has a hard time trying to figure you out. You're so unpredictable I don't even know who the real you is."

I then stood up from my chair and grabbed my bag.

"Well then it's time you got to know the real me. It's gonna be a long trip and a long story, grab your stuff I think I spotted a decent car we can steal and keep until we get to the Sudanese border."

Despite its advancements Egypt was still a third world country and the police didn't always arrive when they wanted to. Since we were heading to Sudan, the border there was kind of porous but the highways were faster and monitored so we had to ditch the car before we got there. After discretely picking the pocket of the poor saps car we were going to steal we got out of town easily and headed back south towards the highway.

"Take a look in my bag, my laptop's in there. Then look at the files I saved. That should help you find out wherever Chan may be at."

As Sophia turned around to the back seat and looked through it she immediately noticed there was more than a laptop in there.

"Figures. You like to come prepared." She said holding up my new MP7.

"Hey that's a quick in and out for me."

As she booted up my laptop, it looked like it was story time again.

"Ok what did you mean that I'm doing the exact same thing you did?"

"Well…I think it might be more appropriate to say that I will not allow anyone else to become me."

"What do you mean?"

"Sophia…you and I have a lot more in common than you think. We're both haunted by traumatic events from our pasts. We're both outcasts from our armies. We both want closure. We both want to find peace in our lives. We both want to see a new world. But that's were our similarity ends. Where you at least have demon to slay, _I_ am my own demon. _I_ ruined my own life by letting my anger blind me and misdirect my sense of justice by making myself into a monster."

I then started breathing heavily and gritted my teeth hard.

"I didn't even know what I was doing it until it was too late. I also in the process made myself an enemy of the United States and in caused so many people to get hurt and some didn't have anything to do with what I did."

I was starting to choke up. I then felt tears run down the sides of my face, the memories were coming back hard. I slammed on the brakes to stop the car to try and clear my head or I would have run off the road.

"Damien? Damien!"

When I looked to Sophia her face said it all. She couldn't process what she was looking at and it was full of concern and fear. She never seen me it such sadness before.

"You want me to drive? If it's too much we can wait till we find a spot to rest after we cross the border and you can tell me there."

I then wiped my nose and eyes.

"No it's ok. This is actually a part of why I can never really sleep. Because of the trauma I developed a mild form of insomnia. But every time I do sleep, it's nothing but nightmares of the last two years."

"Damien I…"

"It's ok. I want to tell you this. And if you see me as something horrible, then the moment we find Chan. I'll do what you said and let you go on alone and I'll head back to Koko."

I then continued to drive, there was a small moment of pause but then she spoke.

"Before you start, I like being called "Valmet" why are you calling me by my name?"

"That's an easy answer." I said turning to her. "You are not a weapon and I'm not thoughts that cause fear when one sleeps. We're both people with names, and personally it makes you sound like a thing rather than a woman."

She sighed while rolling her eye.

"Ok. What happened two years ago?"

 _God, at least let me finish this story without breaking down and throwing up like I did with Lehm. Sophia I hope you can say the same thing he did. But I don't doubt this cause I'll never be able to escape it even if I do find peace. I know that violence is who I really am._

 **Two Years Earlier:**

 **January 6** **th** **2008 0530 Hours**

 **CIA Black Site Anvil, Afghanistan**

Nestled in between the provinces of Northern Helmand and Kandahar, Anvil was like most top secret sites. You weren't supposed to really advertise them unlike the other FOB's and it wasn't as noticeable like Camp Shorabak. But since the key players were CIA Special Activities Division and field agents, if anyone wanted to try and get into this place they would have never been seen again. But since field and guard patrols weren't a part of what they were supposed to do you had to maintain security. That's where the civilian security contractors came in but that was just a fancy term for implying the name mercenaries. Not more than two days after I got here one of the detainees who was just asking for more water got rifle butted in the gut. I went to report him in but they let him off like nothing happened. I knew we worked in the grey areas but I didn't let it get under my skin that much. I decided to avoid the contractors for now, at least my team seemed better to get along with and I hoped it wasn't just because I was in charge of them. Our mission this morning was to escort three suspected Taliban members we nabbed after a patrol on the day before New Years to a specific location. I was gonna be briefed before we left, things moved fast around here and all of us were on need to know basis. I clicked on my radio to get in touch with the man who was Anvil's agent in charge, Thomas Henry Kane.

Under the code name of Forge his career spanned all the way back to just when the Iron Curtain fell. He must of thought of that name as something clever to try and reforge the world after communism fell. Whatever his reasons he may not have had the chance to combat the Soviets but from what he said he made quite a name for himself in helping the DEA crack down on the drug czars in South America. He then was stationed in Saudi Arabia for a time during the 90's, didn't really need to guess who he might have been gathering intel on, and then he ended up here.

Since they naturally worked on a different clock than ours the waiting was, well the waiting. Time differences on how civilians and militaries operated was nothing new to me but I did like to annoy them sometimes on how we needed to get things done for the day.

"Forge, this is Iron Actual. Are you awake? We're about to head out with those prisoners and we need directions on where to go. Over."

"Iron this is Forge. Have some damn patience. Heading your way now. Out."

 _This guy has been all business since I got here, only time I see him show any emotion is when we succeed in a mission._

Out of everything that's happened so far the only thing that really annoyed me after being here for less than a month was the constant changing of clothes. The temperature in the southern part of the country at least been moderate but with the sun blasting the temperature up and with nightfall it plummeting you could either burn up or freeze up without you knowing. As I was waiting for the rest of my team next to our two JLTV's I loaded up my rifle and Sig. The good thing about being an operator was that you got to have the latest and greatest gear before anyone else did and Special Forces almost always got the field tests. Officially called the MK17, I preferred calling it's shortened name of SCAR. They were actually supposed to be officially put the rifle and the JLTV, or MATV as it was going to be called, into service next year but the CIA hooked us up. I could help but ogle at all the cool shit I had access to.

"Sir, you know no matter how much you stare at those damn things they ain't gonna look back and say "Hey big boy!""

"I thought I told you when I landed here last month Ken that I'm not just muscles and a pretty face. Anyway where's Iron 3 and 4?"

"Getting those three Taliban suspects. They'll be here soon."

My second in command of my team Team Iron, Sergeant First Class Louis Isaac Kennedy, was my weapons sergeant and designated sniper. A black man with literally no neck and a solid block build he was from rural Alabama. He had been in the Army since before the new millennium and volunteered for Special Forces only a few months before 9/11. His enthusiasm was matched by his great sense of humor. His call sign was Iron 2, I called him Ken for short. I preferred using names instead of ranks here since we're all pretty much equal out here but I still had the last say in anything. At least until we got tasked by our CIA overseers. Special Forces operators may have operated outside of regular army's freedom of movement but we still had to get our missions from somewhere. I then noticed that our ride was inbound, a Blackhawk then touched down and I then saw Kane walking towards me with the prisoners with Iron 3 and 4 in tow.

"Captain Andrushko! We're done with these three we have what we need, take them to Sarposa Prison in Kandahar."

We had to shout rather loud over the blades whirling.

"What? Just like that? Aren't we supposed to hand these guys over to the ANP?"

"The officials you're going to meet at the prison _are_ the ANP. Head back once you're done ASAP, you have a meeting with Zayed Fahim this afternoon."

 **0620 Hours**

 **Flying Over Kandahar**

During the flight the prisoners were unusually quiet. They also wore black cloths over their heads, naturally the CIA didn't want the Taliban to know where they were at. What was the point of a black site if you didn't keep secrets? But speaking of secrets not everyone was keen on need to know basis. The CIA had its job, we had ours. That's what I kept telling myself.

"You're not alone here boss I hate that asshole too. Just cause he's got security clearance and has a rule to break the rules he thinks he can act however he wants."

Staff Sergeant James Colin Sawyer, call sign Iron 3 and my engineer sergeant and demolitions expert. Another country native but this time from Minnesota, since he grew up around lakes he was an avid fisherman. After working in his father's limestone quarry for a few years after high school, he decided to join the army. His day's from working with stone and heavy machinery gave him his distinct athletes build. After witnessing that one of the blasters used a bit too much explosive when they were blasting away earth and rubble they ended up brining down half a hillside and re-buried the limestone. I didn't need to guess what he wanted to do, he was the most independent of all of us, his beard growing out was obvious, but he was a lifer. He didn't want to take over his dad's business but he also didn't realize you do have to climb a ladder to reach the top, as Kennedy explained to him.

"We do still have a job to do Sawyer. You can't just take the missions you want."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But at least Kane can give us a little leeway on finding the Muj our own way. I'm not complaining but I don't wanna do delivery or clean up duties this whole tour."

Iron 4 then jumped into the conversation.

"Hey as long as I don't have to do my job and just make sure you guys are healthy then I don't care what the hell happens."

Staff Sergeant Nestor Juan Lucente, my team's medic from San Jose California he was of Spanish-Italian descent. With deep bronze skin and thick slicked back black hair the locals often mistook him as being a native that joined the American Army. He was also the most fluent in Pashto and Tajik out of all of us. Naturally of course it was his job to make sure we all stayed alive but unless he wasn't fighting or tending injuries it was his job to interact with the locals and let them know we weren't there to cause trouble.

"I've also really expanded my vocabulary with the locals, I almost know about every damn curse word."

"Save that for when we get into a firefight and we can piss them off. Ok guys, ETA to drop off point is five minutes. Doc, make sure they're ready to go."

"Sir."

 **0630 Hours**

 **Saraposa Prison, Kandahar**

It wasn't any secret that Afghanistan was still a stone age country even after the massive influx of the twentieth and twenty first century technologies and tools to better their lives. But it all depended on who took it and used it and material things never really changed ideas and what not. Naturally the concept of humane treatment was still kind of foreign. Most of the prisoners here were rather thin and had wounds that were from beatings. The smell, didn't need to explain any further than that. As we lead the prisoners past the main gate to the front desk I handed the clerk the form that we were turning them over to the ANP. He nodded and then ordered his guards to take the three away. As they removed the blindfolds from them, one of the prisoners started shouting as if he was freaking out only to be hit over the head by one of the guards night sticks. The clerk didn't even bat an eye as he signed and stamped the form and handed it back to me. That was our cue to leave, as we made out to the chopper I turned to Lucente.

"Hey Doc what the hell was he blabbering about? He was shouting so crazy I couldn't pick up."

"Something about cursing us out for being liars. Said that they only knew Kasim, nothing else."

Almost instantly the hair on my neck stood up.

"Don't tell me we just handed over a few innocent men over to jail without a trial."

"I'm not sure sir. But it's not like we can ask for them back."

 _Who the hell is this Kasim guy that made Kane lock up three men we just grabbed?_

"Sir if I may be so bold?" Kennedy then got my attention. "The enemy does have ears and they don't necessarily need to hear directly from a specific person to get what they need."

"It's also our responsibility here to make sure that we don't end up creating more enemies. If that guy was only just an acquaintance of whoever the fuck this Kasim guy is and he didn't do anything. Why the hell did we just send him to prison?"

 _I'm gonna have a long talk with Kane once this is over._


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Stonewalling**

 **January 6** **th** **2008 1145 Hours**

 **Zayed Fahim's Poppy Field's, Helmand Province, Afghanistan**

Fahim was expecting us as we arrived at his property line with his bodyguards in tow. He knew what we were there for so after a quick hello he led me and Kennedy to his house while Sawyer and Lucente stayed behind to guard the MATV's. I was still reeling from Kane's bullshit from before we left. All he said was that those three were loose ends and he couldn't afford letting Kasim know that someone was looking for him. He might as well as killed them himself if he knew where he was sending them off to. He also couldn't even give me the identity of who Kasim was, or if he was a he at all. But I had other things to worry about for now, like getting some new intel from one of our informants, I didn't need to figure out that Fahim didn't just sell all those flowers just because they looked pretty.

As far as economics goes for Afghanistan, other than war, the only thing they export to keep the country from truly collapsing in on itself would be the trade in hashish and non-pharmaceutical opium. I still couldn't figure out why the country continues to remain in the fucking stone age because the people continue to fight instead of finding a way to live peacefully. The opium dealing didn't help much either because frankly it makes a bigger profit than farming or from exporting the rather large amount of lithium I've heard that the country has been mining. Of course we would need evidence that they were shipping out all this smack but it wouldn't really matter. I read somewhere that there was no rule of law in southern Afghanistan, only the bullets rule. Or in this case it would be how much money we could use to get this guy to think that it would be beneficial to work for the US instead for himself. It still didn't excuse the fact that we were technically supplying a major drug dealer and just helping him expand his business. Fahim definitely didn't take after regular Afghani's, with his silk shirt and khakis he was also clean shaven that was a bit of a taboo in Muslim societies. But in the end I don't think he cared, he was loyal to one thing, money. He was however a good reader of people, the man knew I hated his guts but I didn't want to piss him off or cause a fight with his bodyguards, we needed that intel for our next mission.

"You don't approve of how I run a business Captain? I thought that when the American's came here they would help expand a free market society."

"I'm not here to talk ethics on drugs Fahim. You know what I want, do you want your money or not?"

The man then lit up a cigarette, an American Marlboro. He probably got one of his men to buy them from the Marines at Dwyer.

"You know this has only been our second meeting and you compare me to all those Pablo Escobar imitations in South America. Where you should take my money and live or I will just kill you so you don't cause problems for me later on. That seems rather brutish."

Drug dealers were the same all over the world. They liked to preach that they serve the people but they tend to leave out the fact that sometimes the products they sell tend to ruin people's lives or make them addicts and overdose on their shit. Not to mention the fact that they kill to keep their empire running.

"Any kind of deal that comes from people like you always involves a catch. Usually it ends up being fatal."

I saw Ken give a look that was telling me to calm down but I didn't care. I was gonna make my point stand, but Fahim didn't let up.

"So that's what you believe? From all your American crime show's and documentaries from National Geographic? Let me tell you that there's a difference from what is shown and what really is. You've seen some of the villages that have had some improvements equivalent to the modern world mostly around my territory yes?"

"Yeah."

"Not all of those accommodations came from when the Americans first came here. Simple things like electricity, running water, propane for heat. I gave them those things to help improve their lives and they pay me to continue to do so and that's not all. I also built school houses for different age ranges, along with providing up to date books on all kinds of fields of knowledge, even sources where they can apply to academies in other countries."

I couldn't figure out if he wasn't listening or if he thought he was so in the right that it didn't matter. He was right though, except for the fact that those "accommodations" had looked a bit dated.

"You're still leaving out the catch. I gotta feeling that whenever someone doesn't want to pay you just get that form of payment by _other_ means."

His eyes then slanted. I thought I made him angry but what came next I found baffling.

"I'm not an extortionist Captain Andrushko. I follow the same guidelines as any public servant. If a man doesn't want to pay his water bill I simply shut off his water nothing more. I know that you are a very smart young man and I know that you know that the entire world doesn't revolve around a single set of rules that determines what is right. Legally and morally speaking."

I found it hard to believe that I was getting schooled by a drug czar. Hypocrisy to me was on par with evil, but not being worse than it. Often times it was used as a proper excuse to make sure the next generation didn't follow in the same mistakes the previous one did. But I wasn't gonna let this guy tell me what was right or wrong. I came here for intelligence on where some more Taliban members were at and I was gonna get it.

"Ok, alright. We're getting off topic here. I came to collect information, not discuss philosophy."

Fahim then looked at me as if he was disappointed and then sighed.

"Very well Captain. It seems I can only keep it strictly business with you. Come then. It's inside my house."

We then made our way to his estate, or if that's what could pass for an estate in a third world country. It consisted of two floors but could only be described as being no bigger than a four or five room boarding house. The inside however was vastly different. The walls were painted with a cream colored white with beige tile floors and intricate work on the doorways with blue, gold, and, green patterns. The rooms all included modern furniture and appliances and there were even servant's cleaning the place. After Fahim then entered his kitchen, Ken then pulled out his comedic side when he saw what they could be living in, instead of the bunks back in Anvil.

"Hey sir, you think this place would be a good start an expansion on MTV Cribs? I was thinking "Drug Dealer Edition", think about it. This is the place where I cut my product. This is where I keep my shark tank where I feed them my enemies!"

I paused before entering.

"Oh God. Don't start descending into acting like the regular grunts. I thought you were more mature than that Ken."

"Aww come on sir. Ever since we first met in Kabul you've been all business and barely any play. Didn't Colonel Pegorino say your sarcasm would give Kurt Russell a run for his money?"

 _Might as well give him what he wants._

As we approached the kitchen door I turned around and smiled. "Well don't expect me to shoot a man sized hole in each door I come across."

"That's the spirit sir!"

As I turned around the kitchen door opened rather suddenly and I felt a thump in my gut. As I looked down I saw a girl, short dark hair, glasses, definitely in her late teens but in traditional Afghan garb with colors of red, dark orange, and dark green but no burkha. She then looked up to me nervous as all hell but she actually spoke good English.

"Umm…I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. I didn't know my father had guests."

"It's alright you didn't…wait a second are you his daughter?"

"Yes I'm Khandan. Who are you?"

Before I could answer Ken butt in.

"Don't worry young lady. I'm Sergeant Kennedy and this pile of testosterone in my boss Captain Andrushko. We're with the US Army and your dad is helping us out."

She looked at us both and acknowledged. Then hurried off with books in her hands.

"Aww…look what you did sir. You scared her away."

"Shut up Ken." I said annoyed.

We then entered the kitchen which was just as lavish as the rest of the house. With sky blue cabinetry and grey granite counter tops. Fahim was sitting there with coffee in his left hand and his right on a folder on the table.

"She may come across as the nervous type but she is incredibly intelligent. Next month she's scheduled to take the exams which will get her out of here and into Oxford. After that I will do my best to make sure she sees the outside world and never come back here."

I pause to think about the meaning of her name. I remembered what it meant in Pashto.

"Her name means _smiling_ right?"

He stared into his coffee cup. "My late wife gave her that name. It's no secret that war is a common practice here. With so much suffering and sadness within the last thirty years when the Soviets came here and tried to expand their empire it's hard to find things to smile about."

Thinking back on my history lessons Afghanistan really started to go bad when the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan started implementing radical types of reforms in a country that the people did not really agree well with. The communists then looked to their Soviet overlords for help, Soviet 40th Army rolls in, a massive mess rolls on for nine years, and the country is left in ruin as a state of anarchy until we came in and figured it was our turn. I didn't need to figure out that Fahim took advantage of the chaos and consolidated his power.

"When things become so chaotic you have to do what is necessary to survive Captain. I don't want the life I had to be passed on to my child. I killed my first man when I was only fifteen when the Soviet's invaded. After the war I purchased several poppy flower seeds with what little money I had left because the wheat was too expensive to grow. Eventually I discovered I had a talent for this particular business, and with it I was able to steal the heart of a young woman who bore me Khandan but before she even got the chance to see her walk she stepped on an old landmine left by the Russian invaders."

He then stood up with the folder and placed it hard on my chest, it looked like he was gonna make his final point and our business was over.

"Not everyone in this country who you technically conceive to be what you call _bad_ is bad. Many of us just want this madness to stop. Here's what you asked for, just leave the money here and get out."

I took the folder, placed the money on the table and Ken and I left the house in silence.

 _God, Dad wasn't kidding when he said not everything is black and white._

As we walked down the path back towards our trucks I then saw Khandan sitting under a tree reading a textbook. The Pashto version of Arabic translated as "Cardiology" for the title I saw on the spine.

"Taking in the medical profession? Good choice seeing how your dad is probably prone to an ulcer if he continues on his rants."

She smiled uncomfortably and closed the book.

"I know what my father does. I know that what he does hurts a lot of people. But no matter what he's ever done he's always showed me great kindness and support. He's the best father in the world, he never once tried to get me to follow in his footsteps. He let me make my own choices in life."

"Hmm. Mine is like that too. We both drive each other crazy sometimes but I also realize that it was just the two of us when I was growing up. He made sure he spent as much time with me as possible because he often got to go to war whenever he had to. Not because he wanted to. So he let me make whatever choice I wanted to be when I grew up. I liked what he did, and I figure I'd keep close with him. Cause I can sympathize with you too. I lost my mother when I was young as well."

She stood up and walked towards us both. "I think we introduced ourselves rather awkwardly, what's your name? Your first name?"

She held out her hand and I shook it. "Damien."

 **January 15** **th** **2008 0412 Hours**

 **Flying over the South East Farah Province**

As I was looking out the door window of the Blackhawk it truly looked like I stepped backwards in time. Nothing but dark night sky and no lights from cities for miles on end. I still found it hard to believe that people lived this simply for so long. All I could really make out was my reflection, highlighted in read from the interior lights. Then the pilot came on my radio.

"Iron, ETA to drop off point is five mikes."

"Understood. Ok guys keep your shit wired tight, we gotta make it to that ridge by sunrise."

After over a week of waiting for confirmation on location we got the green light for the take down of a known bomb and IED maker Dural Usmani. Fahim's intel turned out to be solid. This guy had apparently been teaching some of the Taliban on how to properly put together IED's from damn near anything. Highway One which was supposed to be a huge boom to the improvement to Afghanistan's infrastructure had just become a magnet for bombing's, kidnappings and ambushes for US Military convoy's. It was essentially a big fucking sign that signaled to the insurgents that important shit was here. Hopefully after today that threat would at least decrease by chopping off the head of a snake.

As the signal light came on I motioned to hook up the ropes to rappel out of the bird. The chopper then began to hover and the crew chief opened up the doors. Leading by example I went out first, followed by Kennedy, Sawyer, and Lucente. We touched down and after a quick look at my GPS headed in the direction of the village he was supposedly at.

 **0655 Hours**

The sun was beginning to rise and after a lengthy jog we arrived at the ridge that overshadowed the village. A slightly moderate settlement where there was one main road with two dozen different structures. We then slowly made our way up while scanning the surroundings for any hostiles. After reaching the top I then scanned the area below with my binoculars. Certain people were already out performing their morning chores but no sign of the target.

"Anything yet sir?" Ken was busy preparing his Model 700.

"Nothing yet."

We waited for about twenty minutes but then I had a match. I took out the photo that Kane handed to me just before we left. Late 40's, not more than five foot seven, slightly greying beard, bulbous but flat nose, but most distinctly a missing index and middle finger on his left hand. Explosives making was a dangerous profession even with certified and licensed training but bomb makers always had injuries when they made theirs. It was just a matter of when, not if.

"Got ya. Sawyer, get on the horn and tell Forge we have the target."

"Nice." He then switched frequencies from team to his long range radio. "Forge this is Iron 3, we have positive identification of the target. I say again, positive ID. Requesting permission to liquidate target. Over."

" _Iron 3, this is Forge. Confirming coordinates of the settlement the target is at Sierra Charlie 2037-8645. Over._ "

Sawyer had a confused look on his face but then answered.

"Uhh…affirmative Forge. But what about the target? Over."

" _Maintain visual on the target for the time being. Notify if the target leaves the zone. Out_."

The radio went dead and Sawyer couldn't believe what he heard.

"The hell? Boss he just wants us to keep an eye on the guy."

I turned to him with an eyebrow raised.

"The fuck for? Ken you got him in your sights?"

"Lined up Cap."

"Urrgh…keep an eye on him for now."

 _God I hate this hurry up and wait shit._

 **0733 Hours**

Usmani still hadn't left the village and Kane hadn't picked up the radio when I asked why we were just waiting out here. All the four of us were doing was just watching a village with people conducting life like normal. Smoke was coming from some of the stacks, probably for breakfast or keeping their houses warm. Men tending their livestock, wives doing laundry, children getting water from the well, and Usmani talking to other male villagers probably discussing what he was gonna do to other Americans or coerce other's to join the insurgents cause. But all four of us were starting to get restless, Sawyer especially.

"Damn it boss why don't we just waste this creep and deal with the fallout later? We've already past the point where we can't be stealthy and just abduct him."

Lucente then spoke up. "I got to agree sir something doesn't feel right, we go out here, find Usmani, and then Kane tells us to stay put? Something don't add up."

"Ugh…trust me guys I share your frustration. Kane's crap on trying to limit on what we can do out here is getting on my nerves. I don't get it either, before I left I was told I would have full control over what you guys did while we were out here and we'd be working _with_ the CIA not _for_. But this is starting to get a little bizarre even for me and all the ridiculous shit regular army makes us jump through. Any more movement on the target Kennedy?"

Ken was still having eye's on the house Usmani went into when we first ID'd him through his scope.

"None sir. Hasn't left his house, probably just having breakfast or jacking off." He then took his head away from his rifle and looked around in the sky. "Hey you guys here that?"

It was the roar of jet engines. Fast movers were patrolling daily all over Afghanistan but they were normally high up out of sight. These however were close and it was getting louder. Then all of a sudden there was a sonic boom followed by a massive series of explosions and fire jutting up from the village below. It that moment all went silent and then what came to me were the people that were down there. Ordinary people going on with their lives just ending in a moment, men, women and even children incinerated. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I was in utter shock of the overkill as well as the fact that there were people in that village that had nothing to do with the bomber that was there. I then felt a shake on my shoulder, Ken had brought me out of my mind fuck.

"Damien!? Damien! Come on man talk to me what the hell did we just do!?"

I then shook my head to let him know I was paying attention but I couldn't stop looking at the blaze that was eight hundred meters from us.

"Louis I got no idea. But this is insane. Sawyer! You got any traffic on who the hell dropped that ordinance?"

"I was trying to do that the moment I saw the blast. I don't have their frequency."

I could hold my frustration in any longer and I started kicking rocks and threw my helmet on the ground in a rage.

"FUCK!" After I few seconds I shut my eyes and realized there was only one person who had an answer for what happened, Kane.

"Sawyer, radio in a bird to take us back to Anvil, NOW! I'm gonna have a nice long chat with Kane and get some answers out of him. One way or another."

 **1014 Hours**

 **Black Site Anvil**

I personally wanted to beat the answers out of him but the screaming I gave Kane in his office was good enough. I didn't even care one way or another because he knew I had no superiors to answer to out here. But he didn't even flinch. He looked as if I expected to come back the way I felt. That he also planned out on how he was going to answer my questions. It didn't excuse the fact that I technically helped glass a whole village just to get one man.

"There are many ways to fight war's Captain and not all of them are the ones you _want_ to do."

"It didn't fucking include leveling the whole place! THERE WERE INNOCENT PEOPLE THERE!"

"You don't fucking think I knew that!?" His outburst caught me surprise, I didn't expect this from him.

"Then what the hell was even the point of sending us out there?" I said flat and bluntly.

Hey folded his hands looked on his desk and answered calmly.

"Captain I can understand why you're so upset and I'm not saying that just because. We no longer live in the age where the enemy is easily recognizable or is what you might consider an actual army. The enemy for the current generation we are currently fighting is made up of both ideology and religion and neither don't necessarily have to follow the moral path."

He was dancing around my question like a politician. I pressed two fingers on my forehead and let out an annoyed sigh.

"You're not answering my question Kane. What does that have to do with why we were out there?"

"We needed eyewitness human confirmation from what went on out there. Contrary to what you believe technology is not always reliable even though we have a higher limit on our budget compared to the rest of the US military. Drones and spy satellites can do a lot but they can't see, hear or do everything. You said that Usmani was speaking to quite a few people that morning correct?"

"Yes, but we couldn't hear what they were saying."

"We had reason to believe that Usmani was meeting with more senior advisors from not only the Taliban but of foreign powers as well, specifically the Pakistanis. They were scheduled to meet with him this morning, one sniper wouldn't have been good enough and there were too many to try and abduct to get information out of them so taking them all out was the next logical step."

I'd ask him about the Pakistani's later, I already knew the insurgents were getting their guns and gear from somewhere. They didn't just steal everything they could get their hands on. Instead I ask the one that really burned under my skin.

"There were kids in that village Kane. Most of them not even ten or eleven."

He then opened his left desk drawer and took out a thin three ring binder notebook.

"Take a look at this Captain, this is some old evidence one of our SAD teams got last year."

I took the binder and opened it. After flipping through a few pages on photos of weapons, HVT's, and one with a few creeps cheering in front of a burning US Humvee I stopped at a photo of a man who appeared to be teaching a class on how to use a suicide vest. It was a mixed group of ages, but children sat in the very front row. Kane knew the moment I would find the photo and then spoke.

"Close to half the population in this country is under the age of fifteen. It is almost identical to when the Soviets withdrew in 89. A nation that refuses to keep up with the times with a population like that is a recipe for disaster. War has a lot of definitions and one of them is where the old and bitter get the young and stupid to do their dirty work. You know of Pol Pot?"

"Killed off the entire intellectual class in Cambodia, or about a quarter of the whole country."

I knew that answer by instinct. Dad occasionally forced me to watch documentaries on tyrants. He said that this is who and what our military is _not._

"He was in his late fifties and a hardened communist with the idea of a peasant utopia. The average age of his Khmer Rouge soldiers were teenagers, some as young as six. He brainwashed them into thinking murdering anyone who didn't agree with him was ok. It's the same thing over here and in Iraq. They corrupt the minds of the people, children especially, by simply saying misinterpreted or false quotes in the Koran that we are the source of all their misery and salvation means killing us, infidels."

I didn't want to admit it to his face but as sick as it was the man had a point. Al-qaeda and the Taliban had used civilians as shields and they were even getting kids to fight with them. They knew we operated humanely with the laws of war and that we would hesitate in fighting and it's why guys were getting killed. They fought in the sickest way imaginable and we were sacrificing our humanity to beat them. Even though it was my first deployment, witnessing such things first hand was different than watching it one the news or reading the history about it. But I did not intend on turning myself into a savage.

"If you want eyewitness facts on shit and want total annihilation then send out your SAD teams. From now on, me and my boys do clean running ops _our_ way. We'll continue to provide you with intelligence. You want us to blow the hell out of something? Make sure it's a weapons cache or someone that deserves it and only that. I'm also not cleaning up any messes _you_ make Kane and if it comes down to it I will answer to the Army not the CIA. Do we understand each other?"

I handed him back the binder but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't going to take the sass of a man not only thirty years his junior but on his first deployment. He must have thought I was just another kid full of piss and vinegar thinking he could change the world. He was only right on the second part though. I was gonna try to make an impact on the world in my own way _later._

"You're furious and you have every right to be considering what you witnessed. But we are an organization that does not fight by morals, ethics, or even fairness. We have only one objective, to win."

Every now and then my temper got the better of me but I had always tried to use it on people who deserved it. My eyes never left Kane but my fists were shaking and I wasn't being subtle on my heavy breathing.

 _If we lower ourselves to the level of the guys that are gutting people alive then what the fuck is even the point in beating them?_

"Very well Captain. It looks like we'll be having conflicting interests while we're working together so since this is your first time in a war I will ignore our little argument. But that doesn't mean you will not be held accountable for insubordination if you do anything stupid, you do have a job to do and you are representing the Army _and_ its Special Forces while you are working with us. One more thing, just remember what _we_ are capable of. Anything else you want to discuss?"

That last part had to have meant he could make me disappear and no one would be the wiser. Bad call, cause he had to aim first but I'm not here to wage my own war.

"I'll need details later about the Pakistani's providing support to the Taliban. On who I need to be looking for what I'll be needing to obtain. And before you start thinking that I'm gonna go off on a tangent on why we aren't hammering the Pakistani's if their providing weapons and support to the Taliban, I don't need to figure out what's gonna happen if two nuclear powers start butting heads. Little matter of national security right?"

 _That's if that crap even means anything anymore judging from what I've seen._

"Just get out of here and go do what you must Captain. We'll be in touch on what we need help on soon."

Since I didn't really follow military courtesy out here I left and slammed the door to his office. The son of a bitch must have thought he had a plan for everything. But at least I got the point across that my team wasn't their attack dogs. Unlike the guy who was waiting outside the HQ building, Special Agent Nicholas Brooks one of the SAD team leaders. He was one of those out here that was truly a law unto himself but he didn't act in arrogance. Since the man was a former SEAL he upheld the strict discipline of accomplishing the mission and not letting his feelings get in the way. Unfortunately from what I could tell, it was costing him his humanity and especially his manners.

"Nothing will get people killed faster than a feud within the chain of command Andrushko."

"Hmpf. Not that it's any of your business Brooks but my men and I work _with_ you, not _for_ you."

He ran his hand across his shaved head with a frustrated sigh.

"Unlike Chief Kane, I'm not opposed to say what I truly know. You're like almost every other new officer that's achieved a lot and expects everything to go their own way. You need to realize that there are certain things that have to be done specific ways and there isn't always choice."

 _I don't got time for this shit._

"I'm not gonna even bother getting into a pissing contest with you. If you don't mind, I got to brief my team on a mission we will be going on next month."

I shoved passed him and made my way toward Team Iron's quarters. I always knew that not everyone who joined up were good people. Some just managed to get around all the warnings that such a person was not recommended for a position by being good at their job and passing training. Certain brass who thought they knew better than everyone must have seen guys like Brooks as necessary evil's that can do good. To me it was a load of horse shit. That would backfire and blow up in their faces when they'd least expect it. Where I was gonna go with my life, I was gonna change that. I was gonna make sure that everything had a choice and that there more than just two options.

As I got back to the teams quarters, Ken was already going over the intel on what our next mission was going to be. It was gonna be a little further north this time in the Faryab province in a mountainous region about 12 miles near the Turkmenistan boarder. There was apparently a Taliban stronghold there that was also shipping weapons to the other provinces that were in the mountains to reach any air support that came to help the grunt's on the ground. Simple mission, search, destroy, exfiltrate. But it looked like the guys wanted to clear the elephant in the room cause they knew where I had been all morning, Lucente went in first while he was cleaning his rifle.

"Well at least you're still in one piece and not bleeding sir. It was a ballsy move going head to head with Kane like that."

"I made the man realize that he doesn't have total control over us and that's that. Ken get me up to speed what's the 411?"

He booted up his laptop and I looked over his shoulder.

"Satellite surveillance has shown consistent activity at this valley here. But what I found that can be quite useful to us is that there appears to be scheduled supply drop offs about every four weeks. Big ones in fact so maybe we can make a big hit on them during that time but it won't be for a while since they just got supplied yesterday. You thinking what I'm thinking sir?"

"Yeah, if we catch them at the right time we can find out who's giving them their crap and get some valuable intel on where it's coming from."

"And maybe cause their shit to be rendered unusable boss?" Sawyer said with a wide grin as he was holding up a block of C4. Thank God it wasn't prepped.

"Just the things that can kill people Jim. Ok four weeks, then we air drop out here early about a day or two before the shipment arrives. Then we hump for a day over this pass and then once we're there, destroy anything they'll use and snatch whatever intel we need and get the hell out of there. Any ideas on numbers Ken?"

"Rough estimate two platoons, maybe more when the supplies arrive."

"We'll have to take them by surprise then. Ok, Lucente! Get on the horn with our friend's in Kandahar. Tell them we're gonna a ride up north for a jump and some choppers for exfiltration. For now we start planning until we got the ok from the Air Force that we can go."

 **January 26** **th** **2008 1130 Hours**

 **Kandahar Airport, 451** **st** **AWE Command Center, Kandahar Province**

Under the control of the US Army's 159th Aviation and the Air Force's 451st Air Wing along with the British RAF Kandahar International Airport was the primary go to base for if you wanted air support or where Spec Ops needed a ride into hostile territory quickly. The Air Force was used to us hitching rides with them so all we really needed to do was tell them where to go and we'll take care of the rest. While we all operated under our own orders we still needed to get approval to go anywhere. Since we had to wait half the time when that next supply drop off was I was getting a bit nervous that we'd miss our window but with the classified paperwork I had with me the C-130 pilot, Lt. Colonel Hyatt, was more than willing to give us a ride. Our exfil guy CW3 Stevens was gonna pick us up once we're done.

"Sorry this took so long Captain but we been a little busy these last few weeks. They've been doing pilot swaps to get some of the more experienced guys over to Iraq. It's heating up way more over there than here." Hyatt said.

"Not a problem sir. Just as long as we got a ride to and from I'm happy."

"We'll need to stop by FOB Farah to refuel but once we get there, we're not waiting around cause since we'll be that high up the Muj's will hit us with anything so don't be late."

"If we're late it's because we're dead Chief. Ok, that should be everything. You got our call sign and frequency so we'll be back ready to go in little more than ten days."

Our business was done so we had time to walk around and stretch our legs. We kept getting odd looks from the flyboys since the four of us were a little more decked out than normal and our grooming standards were completely out of regulation. Operators had an aura about them that other's noticed and felt but I always kept a thought in the back of my head. _We are human just like you._ I hated the idea of thinking I was superior, made me fall into a class. After a while we started heading back toward the tarmac where our Chinook was finishing getting refueled and I saw some F15's take off but then my thoughts raced back to the burning village. The sonic boom, the blast, the fire, charred corpses, the smell of scorched earth and flesh. All for one fucking guy and _maybe_ a few others. It was also then that I saw what I hoped I didn't see, flag covered coffins being loaded onto a C17. I then remembered that I was in a war and it meant casualties.

"Boss? Boss! You ok?" Sawyer brought me back to the land of reality.

"Yeah just planning on…ok maybe not. Is that who I think that is?"

We all turned around and speaking to a group of Air Force officers was Khandan Fahim. She then noticed us and waved.

"Excuse me gentlemen I'll be right back."

She left the officers and came to us.

"Captain Damien! Good to see you! Why are you here?"

"Was about to ask you the same question."

"I work as a liaison for the Afghan branch of the ISAF. The money I'm making will help me get to England and attend Oxford. I'm here on business from Helmand. Now your turn!"

She was a little bit more giddy than her usual self. Then again most new college students were, and it was even crazy that I was actually at the age I would have graduated a senior if I went through West Point as a normal student.

"Classified." I said as I looked back out the window to the C17.

"Aww your no fun."

She then noticed on what I was looking at.

"The attacks on the Kandahar Highway have been increasing in the last month, there was also a big jump in attacks just recently."

 _No doubt on the reason why that was. I saw it. Better keep my mind off that and ask her something else._

"It's good to see your working your butt off though. Your father not helping you out?"

She leaned in close to me and whispered.

"You know what he does silly. It's not like I pay for school with _his_ money."

"True there would be a few flags raised if a girl like you just popped up in one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Well I hate to cut this little run in short but we gotta go."

She then grabbed my upper right arm, I could feel her squeeze more than once.

"Wait before you go I wanted to let you know I got that book you sent me on dialysis, that helped a lot. Bye!"

As she made her way back to the officers I heard snickering behind me. Kennedy, Lucente, and Sawyer each had cocky smiles and raised eyebrows.

"What the hell are you idiots finding so funny?"

"Sir as your senior medical advisor I suggest you spend more time being social because you clearly don't know when a girl takes interest in you."

"Gotta agree boss, she wasn't really hiding it. Hell a young, tall, broad shouldered, blue eyed stud like yourself would catch the eye of any girl."

"I do have to admit Cap but when I first heard we were gonna be assigned to a guy who graduated two years ahead of everyone else I thought we get some kind of nerd. Instead we the next cover of GQ and sounded about ten years older than he looked."

I rolled my eyes and did my best not to act embarrassed. I had no idea what women typically saw in me, I was always antisocial. Even though I had been with more than one girl in my life, it was a matter of fact that I never really had what you would technically call a relationship. But I wasn't gonna fall into the category of most military couples that get married and then divorced after three years. If I ever found anyone, I was gonna make sure it lasted. So instead I focused on my job, and now that our final piece was locked in all we had to do was wait.

"Whatever. Let's get back to Anvil. We got ass to kick. Hooah?"

"Hooah!"


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Next chapter will be up a little later than normal. Duty calls for June and I won't be around a computer. Let's just say a life changing event has also occurred so be wary that not everything will go according to schedule. But for now, here's where Damien starts to really break the rules.**

 **Chapter 19: Turning Gray**

 **February 5** **th** **2008 0645 Hours**

 **30000 Feet Above the Faryab Province, Afghanistan**

It wasn't fear that was overcoming me, it was eagerness to fly. Well technically I would be in a state of free fall once I hit terminal velocity at 130 mph. The HALO jump was an unbelievable adrenaline rush but you needed a little bit more in your bloodstream at this high a flight even in a pressurized C-130. Which was why for the last thirty minutes me and the team were breathing straight oxygen. Even though we had our oxygen masks on during the fall, if you didn't put all that extra oxygen in your blood, not only did you run the risk of becoming hypoxic you could also pass out during freefall and end up as a massive stain on the ground before you could regain consciousness. Since it was going past thirty minutes now, we had to be getting close to our drop point. I then pressed my throat mike and got the jumpmasters attention.

"How much longer till drop off?"

He then checked his watch. "Twelve minutes Captain."

"Ok guys, time to zip and seal. I want nobody getting frostbite or passing out. Hooah!?"

"Hooah!" Team Iron said in unison.

We then began making sure we didn't have any exposed skin and fastening on our jump helmets. While they looked like what fighter pilots usually wore they were slightly different. They were extra insulated to suppress as much sound as possible from the wind and included a communication headset inside synced to our radios so that we could communicate even during free fall. They also had the option of attaching NVG's but since it was almost sunrise we had no need for them yet. All of us were used to carrying our own weight and more. Because we had three days to get across the mountain's towards that weapons depot inside the valley. With any luck we would time it just right and catch them dropping off their weapons delivery and put a massive dent in the Taliban supplies. After that we then had one day to hump it fast to the extraction zone and hopefully not have every single bad tempered Afghani following us wanting to flay us alive. As Ken finished checking my chute the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Hyatt, came on my radio.

"Iron Actual, this is Sparrow. ETA to drop off point is eight minutes."

"Copy Sparrow. When, we depart get on the horn to Copperhead. Tell him to wait for us at Farah until he gets our call."

"Understood. Jumpmaster! Begin depressurization."

"Affirmative Sparrow."

Even though the time was short, it felt much longer as we were getting close to exiting the plane. Jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft is not a natural act. But the good thing was that Special Forces are anything but natural, it made me feel proud in a way. As we remained in our seats, the red light above us began to blink and then turn yellow.

"Depressurization complete and jumper's oxygen supplies are nominal. Six minutes to drop off! Opening rear hatch!"

As the rear of the plane opened up I squinted my eyes at the brightness of the morning sun even behind the shaded lenses of my helmet. I could feel the intense wind blowing on me but I did not feel the cold, my insulation was holding up. I then felt the vibrations of rapid tapping next to me, Sawyer was tapping his feet and hitting his legs with his fists. He was practically begging to go but we did have to be above where we needed to jump or else we'd overshoot our zone.

"Man I LIVE for this shit!" He yelled ecstatically.

"Just don't shoot your wad before you exit the plane Sawyer!" Kennedy responded in his comedic timing.

Unfazed, the jumpmaster then gave the next command.

"Three minutes to drop off! Stand up!"

We all got up at once, me in the front leading by example. As much of a rush as it was, parachuting was incredibly dangerous. Even in regular jumps, things could go wrong. Tangled in the wire's, chute's not opening, being dragged, or falling to your death. None of these were the way anyone would want to die but if it happened I would let it happen to me first and not let it happen to anyone else. But human beings, especially soldiers, have a habit of pushing past their limits, breaking barriers, and achieving amazing things. This was probably routine to Kennedy, Sawyer, and Lucente, but this was my first combat jump, so I had to do this right. As we all moved toward the end of the plane in unison the final orders came from the jumpmaster.

"One minute to drop off, status OK all green!"

As the light above us turned green, for a split second all went silent. I didn't know what came over me in that moment, it felt like an out of body experience. As if I entered an alternate state of consciousness, that I was ready for anything. And that asshole Kane wasn't gonna micromanage our mission.

"Countdown…5…4…3…2…1. GO! GO! GO!"

 _Let's fly!_

The four of us leapt out at once and then all was just the sound of muffled wind and the pressure I felt from the free fall. All four of us then interlocked arms so not to get separated and continued to the ground. As I looked down toward the earth I saw the snowcapped peaks and various mountains. None of us could really do much else except wait till we had to the altitude where we opened our chutes so I just enjoyed the view. Military life tends to take people to a lot of places, both emotionally and physically, and what I tended to like the most is see the beauty of the world. There is so much that you can do but only so little time that you can stay in this world until the next life.

 _One day I'm gonna make an impact on the world that will affect everyone. I don't know how, but I'll figure that out later._

I then looked at the altimeter on my wrist, we were getting close to when we had to release our chutes. I motioned to the team and we all broke off. I looked again and it was at its mark, I pulled the cord and out popped the chute no problems. It then got real quiet because once your no longer at terminal velocity, there's not really much anything else around you that can hide the sound of a chute opening or even if you were talking to another person in mid-air so we had to be quiet. I touched down first and after removing my chute did a radio check.

"Iron Actual is on the ground. Sound off."

"Iron Two, locked and loaded."

"Iron Three, armed and ready."

"Iron Four, awaiting orders."

After I loaded my SCAR along with my grenade launcher and strapped on my pack. I then punched in the coordinates we were supposed to go on my Garmin Forerunner and looked in the direction we needed to go, which was north around a mountain in a valley on the other side.

"Ok guys we got three days to hump it. Let's not waist time. Move out!"

 **February 7** **th** **2008 2200 Hours**

It may not have been the Hindu Kush on the eastern side of the country but it didn't change the fact that it was below freezing and the wind wasn't helping either. It was my watch first tonight after humping around the mountain for two days we set up our tents at the base of the mountain just outside the valley. Even though no one in their right mind would be patrolling in an environment like this, you never let your guard down when you are behind enemy lines. But then it occurred to me that no one over here is in their right mind, if they were no one would be here. It was one of the discussions, along with the plan to raid the supply site, during our little walk for the last two days.

" _You want to know what's the best way to catch fish boss?"_

" _Knowing you I'm gonna say C4."_

" _Heh. Good option but then there wouldn't be anything left to eat. Naw, it's patience."_

" _Well duh but what do you mean?"_

" _It's like what we're doing here. You mentioned me using explosives so that means that it will be the fastest way to get a fish and then everything else you used before will count as nothing. Soon others will see it as normal and become numb to its affects."_

" _Skip to the end Sawyer, I hated philosophy class."_

" _War has been part of this nation since ancient times, no sane minded individual would allow this to be an endless loop. Our country may have the ability to wage war with overwhelming power but that's not enough to defeat an enemy like this. It's the older cultures and people that have perfected war. Nation's will fall but if a people have a strong enough will they can beat anyone. These people did it to the Russians, and the Vietnamese did it to us. They're crazy, a "sane" type of crazy."_

Iron 3 may have been a bit of a jackass but he was the most socially intelligent out of the four of us. When he was working in his father's quarry he came across people of many walks of life, guys earning money for college, convicted felons that needed to start over, some that didn't have all the credentials to get another job, and utter blockheads that got by on their physical strength. The world is full of different people and you can acquire much knowledge from them if you listen properly. And the one thing they forced down our throats at West Point was that you needed to listen to your subordinates. They were the ones with the experience and the proper job knowledge to help you succeed as an officer. As Ken and I discussed when we were planning out the raid before we boarded the plane.

" _Remember sir sometimes you can't always want to go faster and not slow down."_

" _Isn't that the point? So that we can accomplish the mission at hand?"_

" _No. This may sound cheesy but it's true. If you want to go fast, travel alone. If you want to go far, travel together. You've accomplished a lot for someone your age, but at times I see you pushing yourself too hard and you don't recognize it. You told me you want to make a big impact on the world one day and you'll do better if you have other's with you on that journey. I have also noticed you spout out unnecessary anger when things don't go the way you want them to. You can't lose your cool like that, especially if you're in a leadership position and more so that you are part of Special Forces."_

" _I had a reason for that anger Sergeant."_

" _You can't just hate Kane because he's an asshole. I didn't like what he said to you either but there are horrible things in war that you must do or else more will die if you don't. I remember before you came over here I was on over watch in Kabul for a bunch of guys at a checkpoint. A woman was approaching them with a baby in her arms, it was a girl wrapped in white, asking them if she could pass. As I focused in on the woman with my binoculars I saw that when our guys were asking for identification she wasn't letting go of her baby. I then focused in more and I saw what I didn't want to see."_

" _Let me guess a trigger."_

" _Yes, it was remote but she didn't press it yet. I had to make a call so I made it. I made sure that no one was behind her and I took the shot. Gravity took over after that and my spotter got on the radio to the checkpoint after I told him why I shot. I may have saved that checkpoint and even the baby but I made that girl an orphan and even gave her a head injury when her mother collapsed on top of her. I may have felt like shit for doing that but I saved those men's lives. Sometimes it's one thing or another."_

" _Ken, I appreciate the concern I truly do. But if you don't mind me saying so, I believe that everything has a choice. Hal Moore said that there is always one more thing you can do. I'd like to think I can make one more decision if I come across something difficult."_

" _Hmm. Your call sir. And I'm with you either way, hell do I have a choice?"_

As the wind began to die down I smiled at the thought on how Ken could remain so positive in bad situations or when he was telling me that story. It would be a good idea if I took the quality of his humor and applied it to whenever the situation called for it. I looked at my watch and then noticed my time for watch was up and I went to get Lucente in his own tent.

"Come on Doc get up. It's your watch."

The groans of coming out of deep slumber occurred inside his pup tent followed by a weapon cocking. Men of readiness may snap to when the bullets start flying but more often than not the one thing a soldier never has enough of is sleep. You gotta grab it when you can.

"Right. We still moving out before sunrise?"

"Yeah. If we get there quick enough we'll go through the plan and hit them in the afternoon when they would not expect it. There's only one route that has enough maneuverability to get that large of amount of supplies through."

As he took up watch and tightened up his weatherproof hood I then started to think about what Ken mentioned to me yesterday.

"Hey Nestor."

"Hmm?"

"From your observations. Do you think I push myself too hard into thinking I want things to go my way?"

He then looked at me and formed half a smile. It was the nature of medic's to let their patients know they were in good care.

"You're just young and this is your first time on the battlefield Damien. The entire US Military may have different jobs but we're all on the same team and everyone reacts differently to how they experience war first hand."

"Well how have I reacted?" I said expecting honesty.

"A solid leader…with being hopelessly lost in social skills like all young officers are."

No doubt he was referring to Khandan, I fist bumped his shoulder and made for my own tent. The wind continued to blow loud outside but I was at least warm inside the pup tent. As I was about to shut my eyes, my thoughts then drifted back to her. She was an attractive girl, but I then thought the wiser. I far prefer someone that led a least a normal life. But I couldn't think about that now, I had to steel myself for the upcoming fight.

 **February 8** **th** **2008 1307 Hours**

 **10 Miles From the Turkmenistan Border**

"Looks like our predictions paid off Cap, they're still unloading crates into those caves. From the looks of how those trucks are parked they must have arrived not too long ago."

Ken was looking through his sniper rifle keeping observation on the high ridge looking over the bowl like formation of landscape with several cave entrances on one side. The rest of us were hunkered down behind rocks about 300 meters to Ken's right. The five old Soviet Ural 4320's were lined up like dominos in the middle of an assortment of camo covers, staging areas, small power lines and guards quarters. There had to be more of this place, the outside was too small and area to store that many weapons so they had to be in the caves. They were all too preoccupied with the activity below so it was now or never. There were also two over watch positions, one our right flank and another directly in front of us, both with DShK's. I then got on my throat mike and turned to Lucente and Sawyer.

"Ok guys here's the plan, Ken you're gonna lay down sniper fire after we start the show down here. From where you're at there ain't no place for them to hide except the cave's. Once we pacify the area you meet up with us at the cave entrances and we clear 'em out."

"I'll wait for your signal Cap."

"Jim take the left flank and keep that path clean, if any of the trucks make a brake for it toss one of your remote charges. In fact give me and Nestor two charges in case if we have to make a quick run for it. I'll let you know when we need to radio it outta here."

"Got it boss. Each charge has their own remote control taped to it so you don't need to worry about setting off the wrong charge. Just flip the switch and poof."

"Nestor, you and I are gonna take those gun nests, we'll use them to clear out the area quicker. You take right and I'll go up the middle and fire the opening shots. Until then no noise, knife only. Let's move."

Using cover and low profiles we each slowly made our way around the numerous amounts of rocks to our positions to conduct our raid. It took about three minutes to get to the nest I was about to take, I then heard a sputtering noise which sounded like an idle moped engine. But as I got closer I immediately froze as an extremely thin line was in front of my face. Slowly and gently I made my way from one side of the line to the other, it was attached to a grenade. Seeing that the pin was just barely in it and two heavy stones were holding it in place I gently pushed the pin back in and using my knife I cut the wire. I took the frag and put it in my pocket, maybe use it later. As I was right in front of the nest there were two men, one near a power generator and the other tying his boot right in front of me, he was first. Using my unnatural strength I pulled his neck back with my hand over his mouth and shoved the blade down through the plumbing so he couldn't scream. After laying him down gently I quickly moved to the other one and with the sound of the generator covering my footsteps. Same technique but plunged the knife into his back where his heart was, after a few tense seconds he stopped moving.

I then looked to my left and right, Sawyer and Lucente were in position and they still didn't notice us. After I moved the machine gun to get a better shot on the Taliban below I noticed that the generator had four wheels and the way the elevation overlooking the bowl wasn't extremely steep. After ripping out the cables that were connected to the thing I placed one of my charges on it and removed the chalk blocks. It was heavy but I was still able to push it, more specifically into the direction of the trucks. The insurgents didn't notice at first but when they saw a bunch of the Afghan moon dust kicking up they knew something was wrong. But it was too late.

"Ka-boom."

The generator smashed into the fourth truck from the last and I hit the detonator. A massive ball of fire erupted and chaos ensued, I followed up by tossing the frag I picked up earlier and then fired my grenade launcher. I must have hit some fuel drums because there was a lot of fire starting to spread, and me and Lucente placed even more by unloading on the Taliban below with Russian .50 caliber. There wasn't much solid cover below that could stop the heavy slugs and those bodies which were not on fire were being blasted in half by the kinetic energy of the heavy MG's. After a mad minute and a lot of corpses later I got on the radio.

"Iron 3 and 4 move up to the cave entrances! Iron 2 get down here and keep us covered! Clear out any remaining hostiles and follow us in!"

"Got it Cap. By the way, you dropped all of them in the meat grinder!"

"Not now Iron 2! Move your ass!"

I got what he was referencing but I didn't have time to think about movie coincidences. As we made our way down the slopes, mercy killing anyone that was still alive, me, 3, and 4 were stacked up ready to enter the caves while 2 kept watch outside from my gun nest. Using our honed close quarter movement we quickly made our way through the main cave entrance but the tunnel was shorter than I thought, we then entered a rather huge cavern with crates and small shacks everywhere, along with a few dozen very angry Taliban. There was no think, just react and clear them out. I took the left side while Sawyer and Lucente took the middle and right. Stop and pop, stop and pop, stop and pop, they may have been putting a lot of fire on us but they were panic firing. More than two thirds of them were killed outside and looked like they never expected anyone to come and burn their base to the ground. As I unloaded on two I caught off guard I then noticed movement of three bodies moving towards a structure on top of an elevated position in the cavern. One of them wore old tiger strip pants with a thick tan colored jacket and wasn't armed and it looked like he was being protected by the other two. That meant a VIP, and I sprinted in that direction and got back on the radio again.

"3 and 4, clear out the rest of them and get the charges planted. Use any of the unburned fuel as an accelerant. Iron 2 you read?"

"It's still clear out here Iron Actual, what's up?"

"Get on the horn to Copperhead, tell them to come get us now!"

Lucente then patched in. "Wait sir, where you heading?"

"I think we might have a guest tagging along with us."

Moving up to the shack I then prepped a flashbang and my pistol, I heard shouting inside and then decided to interrupt their conversation.

"Knock, knock!"

After the flash and bang I went in to clear, there were three, I dispatched the two that were expendable, and round housed the one important one who flew with the force of the kick into a table and after some painful groans spoke English.

"WAIT! DON'T SHOOT! I'M NOT ARMED!"

I stood over him pistol drawn and obviously not believing anything he said. He was not skinny, definitely Afghan, had a thin beard, and looked no older than me. Least I didn't have to call Lucente over to translate for me. He then addressed me again.

"Whatever type of information you want to take with you, you won't find it here on paper or data! I however have it memorized, promise me safety and I will tell you whatever you wish to know."

The way he was shaking I didn't need to figure out he was a born coward. But it didn't look like he was lying.

"Stand up, hands on the wall, you do anything stupid and you won't leave this site with your fuckin knee caps intact!"

After I patted him down and zip tied him I then noticed that the firefight had stopped. I then clicked on my throat mike.

"Iron 4, what's your situation?"

"Area is clean Iron Actual. Prepping the last charge."

"Once you're done meet me at the cave entrance, I want you to look over a guest we have. Iron 2, what's the status on that evac?"

"They just left, we move towards their direction and activate our beacons they can lock on our signal. ETA 90 minutes."

As I took our new guest outside, he kept his eyes shut most of the way not wanting to look at his dead comrades. Sawyer was the last one out and with a mischievous grin set off the charges, the explosion was loud but also muffled since it was inside a cavern. Smoke was coming out of the cave entrances indicating the fuel barrels had done their job too. Ken then made his way toward us and I punched in the coordinates on my Garmin to indicate which direction we needed to go to link up with the choppers. But then our new guest spoke up.

"There goes $7 million."

I then noticed that his accent while appropriate for this part of the world, it wasn't one of the prominent Afghan languages and I couldn't place it. I then turned to Lucente as we began to walk off.

"Iron 4, you picking up on his accent? Cause it's not Pashto, Tajik, or even Arabic."

"Your right it's not, it's Urdu."

Ken then jumped into the conversation. "You can worry about all that later Cap. I doubt we're all alone out here so I suggest we double time it."

Our new guest then spoke again.

"Wait! If your planning on escape why not take one of my trucks? It will get you there faster. Plus there's an alternate route I know of where you can avoid the Taliban patrols."

"Hold up why are you so willing to help us all of a sudden?" Ken looked at him skeptically.

"I had an unpleasant feeling that the Americans would eventually find this place. I gave them these weapons but I also warned them not to get routine with the delivery schedules, it would have made them predictable and the Americans would have found out where they operated but they didn't listen. And as you can see they've reaped the fruit of their errors."

Then it hit me, it couldn't have been more obvious. Why someone like him was this far north, I'd figure out later. I then pointed to each of them

"You know what I'm gonna take a leap of faith. You're riding shotgun with me but if I so much as smell an ambush I'll blow your fucking head off. Iron 4 get that front truck ready to roll. 2 and 3 clear out the back of anything useless in it cause those are your seats, we're leaving."

"Whoa boss hold up! You just gonna trust this guy!?" Sawyer protested greatly against the idea.

"Iron 3, my squad, my call. And we're kinda running against time."

 **1410 Hours**

After a few arguments from Sawyer on how much it was a bad idea to listen to a prisoner. We managed to calm things down as he began to give us a few pieces of information. But as we rumbled along an old dirt road left behind by the Soviets heading south to link up with Copperhead he wouldn't give everything unless he was 100 percent safe. His name was Karan Simran, a Pakistani national that apparently was a delivery man for an arms dealer. Along with what was being delivered to those caves there wasn't anything else he would say yet.

"Just so we're clear Simran, just cause you're helping us doesn't mean you're gonna get away with selling weapons to terrorists that want to kill Americans."

He then looked at me as if I had falsely accused him of something but spoke as if we were in a debatable discussion.

"A dealer of arms only takes the side that has money. I do not care whether my AK's go to the Afghan Army or the Taliban. I'm only a supplier I don't fight the war and I don't take sides."

"We'll you're going to take our side and like it. We could always use another source on the other side."

"So long as I am well compensated I'll tell you what you wish to know."

"I promised I'd keep you alive, that's more than compensation. Once I have a task I stick to it till I'm done."

Lucente began to chuckle.

"Even if it's past the point of you nearly blowing out your knees?"

"Beg your pardon?" Simran obviously didn't know what he was talking about.

"Sorry, the Captain here told me a story a while back that he made one of his instructors mad during SFAS training and as punishment for a ruck march he had to go one and a half times further than everyone else and still kept up with the other candidates for the rest of the day."

 _I actually didn't make him mad. Bastard just wanted to blow off steam for being a sore loser in CQC._

"As a medical man I'm surprised he's in as good a shape he's in considering the amount of abuse he puts himself through."

Simran looked back out to the road almost uninterested.

"Not surprising to me. You American's have a habit of wanting to break limits and barriers. Especially in war."

Reeling back from the bad memory during training, Ken came on the horn.

"Cap! I got incoming transmission from Copperhead, they got a lock on our beacons."

"Got it." I then switched radio frequencies and pressed my throat mike. "Copperhead this is Iron Actual how copy over?"

" _Go for Iron."_

"You should see us coming towards you now. We're in an old Soviet Army truck. Over."

" _Uhh…roger. We'll radio in when we have visual. Over."_

"Understood. Can you relay a message back to Farah?"

" _Send it."_

"Have the MP's waiting for us. We have one prisoner to hand over to the boy's in intelligence."

 **1526 Hours**

 **FOB Farah, Farah Province**

As the Blackhawk approached the FOB and began to land I turned to Simran.

"As per our agreement you'll remain here under US Army supervision and we'll be back in two days to discuss what you know."

The mission actually went smoothly. No casualties, the destruction of weapons, and a source of information we a good haul today. But like any valuable item, others tended to want to get it their own way. As we all left the chopper landing pad four plain clothes men in black plate carriers approached us, one of them very familiar.

"We'll take over from here Captain, that prisoner now belongs to us."

"Brooks? What the hell are you doing here!?"

"I have my orders Captain, and this one comes down from above us."

He then handed me a paper detailing authentication orders from SOCOM. Any matters concerning the apprehension of the individual named "Kasim" are to be turned over to the CIA immediately.

"Trent, Kramer, take him away. Set up the interrogation in the third hanger and clear out all the regular troops. I don't want them listening in."

As the two SAD agents made past me and Ken to take Simran he began shouting and struggling. But what caught me were his eyes, they had a different look from when I first kicked him across a room.

"Captain! You lied to me! I said I would help! I know what the CIA does and it's why I chose not to help them!"

Something about this whole meeting was sketchy. Brooks showing up, Simran implying that he met with the CIA before, and this "Kasim" thing again.

"Brooks, that is _my_ prisoner. You best start talkin, NOW!"

I closed the space between him and me quickly and aggressively, Brooks' fourth in tow backing him up. But he held his hand up to let him know to calm down.

"Calm down Ruvic, he deserves a little explanation. You see the weapons that were delivered to where you were at were delivered by Kasim and with one of his men there it would score a lead on tracking him down. But you did us one better, you actually got him. I didn't think he'd oversee one of his own deliveries."

It then hit me like a ton of bricks. While the pronunciation of the first syllables of his names were different, they were spelled differently, Karan Simran or Kasim. But something else was bugging me, this was no coincidence.

"You assholes were listening in on our radio's weren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Captain." Straight faced and unfazed.

As he and Ruvic turned their backs to me and walked off. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my fists so hard I couldn't stop shaking, I was in an absolute rage. Kane and Brooks had played me into doing their crap and were even spying on me. Kennedy then grabbed my shoulder.

"Captain! I recommend you calm down, don't do something regrettable."

I then turned to him with a dark stare and addressed him coldly.

"Sergeant Kennedy, take your hand off me. I'm going to contact 3rd and rectify this situation. Get the bird ready to go back to Anvil and stand by until I say it's time to leave. Understood?"

"Sir I…"

"Do you understand me!?"

Kennedy's reaction, along with the rest of the team were caught off guard. I almost never used my authoritative tone, it often bordered on violent.

"Yes, sir."

 **1843 Hours**

The video call I finally managed to get to Colonel Pegorino didn't pan any better than what I expected it to be. Apparently you have to listen to people who are nowhere near you're at even after you were told that you had complete freedom of movement from when before you left for your mission.

"Sir there has to be some way I can appeal this to high command. What Kane is doing borders on violating the Laws of War."

Pegorino looked exhausted from saying the same thing over and over again. He wasn't going to budge on helping me out.

"There is a reason why some information remains classified Captain. It's so that others won't die. While you are in charge out there you still have to follow orders, not follow what is right. This anarchic thinking will ruin a lot of hard work in order to build up trust we have with the Afghani's."

"He said he'd help us sir, willingly in fact."

"And you believe him? If we went around trusting every gun runner in that country they'd know all of our weaknesses and crack open our armor and kill us from inside. Or to put in a matter which you would understand. THEY WOULD TOTALLY FUCK US OVER!"

 _This guy's not the same Pegorino I talked to five months ago. Why the hell is this shit happening!? It's like the worlds turned upside down on its head. This ain't why I joined up!_

"This conversation is over Captain. You have your orders, so follow them to the T."

As the monitor switched off my anger kept rising, so in order to let up the stress I punched the computer monitor. The smash drew the attention of everyone in the room. As I stormed out, the comms officer got in my way but I shoved him aside not paying attention to his shouting that I broke his stuff.

 _I don't got time for this shit._

If no one was gonna help me, then I was gonna help myself. I was also planning this completely on the fly, but I was going to win on my own terms. My father said I'd eventually go into the gray area, this is probably what he meant.

 **2000 Hours**

"We told you before Andrushko, he is not your prisoner anymore."

Brook's SAD member Trent was obviously aware that I was gonna try something stupid and he was right. But I'd hope he'd buy my nice guy routine a little more, at least until I could get to Kasim. Then I'd work on my next phase of the plan I was winging. At least he was the only guard in this little makeshift prison inside the hanger.

"Calm down I only wish to talk to the man. No funny business, but has he at least been cooperating?"

"Oh yes, quite well. Though he might be too exhausted to answer anything you want to ask. See for yourself."

They turned one of the offices in the hanger as a cell. But as I looked through the window it was clear it was used for something else. Kasim was tied to a chair bleeding from head to toe, clothes torn, and his left eye had swollen shut. But the expression on his face was that of resistance, this guy was not just another gun runner. I then turned back to Trent.

"Do you mind if I have a little privacy? You can keep an eye on me through the window but I'd like our conversation private."

 _God please let this asshole buy this._

"You got five minutes. Say what you need and leave."

As Trent closed the door behind me I had to act fast. He was conscious but definitely mad that I was there.

"We don't have much time Simran, so I'll be brief."

"What do you want?" His one eye looking up at me.

"I'm through being played by the CIA, every time I try to do my job they keep weaseling in to my efforts to screw me over. Despite what you may think, I actually want to try and save people regardless of who they are and what they've done."

"What is your point?"

"You said you did not want to help the CIA because of something that they did. If it's something that's hurting the US cause here I want to know about it. In exchange I'll give you your freedom."

He then raise a very skeptical eyebrow.

"I'm finding this a little hard to believe Captain Andrushko, why should I trust you?"

"If you don't believe my words then believe my actions."

As I exited the room I turned to Trent.

"Ok I'm done."

"Good now-AUGH!"

I didn't let him finish as I replied with a head butt from my helmet. Following up with locking his arm behind his back in a choke hold and slamming his face several times into the wall. I then dragged his body into the office and stripped him of his gear. I then cut Kasim loose, and mentioned to put on his stuff as I tied up Trent. Hopefully Brooks found him later rather than sooner.

"Why?" He said bluntly.

"I'm not helping you, I'm helping myself. Hopefully we can get out of here without the front gate being too thorough with us. You should be able to disappear in the town just outside the FOB. Despite what you might think, the US Army just makes sure their FOB's are safe, not the surrounding towns at night."

As Kasim clean up his face as best he could, we both exited the hanger and made for the motorpool to hopefully find a thin skinned humvee. I then got on my radio.

"Iron Actual to Iron 2 get the bird ready and ready to dust off."

It was a few seconds but Kennedy finally responded as if he sounded like he was half asleep.

" _Understood sir. We'll wait for you to get here."_

"Negative. Pick me up outside of Farah, look for a strobe."

" _What!? Cap I-"_

"Just shut up and do what I say! Iron Actual out."

 **2020 Hours**

 **Town of Farah**

Pegorino was wrong on all accounts, we were making gaps in our own armor just fine. The checkpoint out of the front gate didn't even stop us. They just opened the door and let us pass. It was only one of the many screw ups that was going on over here. I witness the intentional civilian deaths, gun runners like Kasim being allowed to pass through without being stopped, and known insurgents being let go repeatedly despite entire units knowing that they were responsible for the deaths of their men.

"If you can get me hard evidence on this stuff I will be sure to compensate for you."

"It will take some time but yes, but for now I must return to Pakistan. I should be able to get a bus ride out of here by tomorrow morning."

"I'll need some contact info as well. As a matter of fact give me that guys sat phone. I want to make a little insurance investment, plus if you keep this they'll track you."

"That call I made earlier was to my people so I don't need to worry. Well I best go now."

As he exited the Humvee he extended out his hand with a piece of paper in it.

"Thank you for saving my life, I owe you. I actually told them all lies, so naturally once they found out they would have killed me. You're not like the rest of the Americans, you want to make a difference here."

I took his hand and shook it. Then I used what Fahim told me.

"Not everyone on what I might consider to be _bad_ in this country is actually bad."

As he marched back into town, I turned on my locator IR strobe so that Copperhead could get fix on me. Then after I memorized the number that was on the paper and then punched in another one on Trent's phone. She apparently did have a thing for me, I really needed to find out one day on why the hell I was a form of cat nip for the opposite sex.

" _Hello?"_

"Khandan? It's Captain Andrushko, sorry for calling so late but I need your nelp."


	21. Chapter 20

**Authors Note: We're back! Sorry this took so long but work has been hectic. Here's where everything goes to hell, after this we'll return to Damien's and Valmet's road trip. Of course I made a few changes to how the story progresses but you'll have to wait and see to find out.**

 **Get ready to rip and tear.**

 **Chapter 20: The Choice**

 **February 9** **th** **2008 0054 Hours**

 **On Approach to Black Site Anvil, Afghanistan**

I kept quiet during the whole ride back and the team were giving me stares on wanting answers but I wasn't going to give them one, at least not yet. That prick Kane had screwed me over for the last time and I had had enough. It was my duty to protect my country from all threats, foreign AND domestic. Who knew my first successful thing I could do in making an impact on the world would be finding and exposing a scandal within our intel community. They were not a law unto themselves, they weren't the fucking KGB.

"Captain, are you gonna tell us where the hell you went and what the hell you did?"

As I looked at Sawyer his mood had soured greatly. He wasn't his usual individualistic self, but I kept my composure and remained silent. All I needed to do was just get a call into ISAF and Kane would be out of a job. I know I would face legal punishment for this but it'll be worth it. As we neared Anvil and begun our descent, Ken then spoke up.

"Sir I must agree, I don't like being left in the dark so before we go any further. Why did you tell us we needed to make a quick exit?"

 _Might as well give them a little something._

"I will let you guys know what happened in due time. Let me make a few phone calls first and then I'll let you know whatever you want to know. All I ask is for you three to trust me, have I ever lead any of you astray?"

The lack of response from them was expected, but they knew I'd never place them in mortal danger. So I asked again.

"Have I?"

Lucente looked to 3 and 2 and answered for them.

"You have not Captain."

As I nodded my head in acknowledgement, the chopper touched down. As we departed from the helipad the bird then powered up and took off rather suddenly. Plus as we were walking towards our barracks the site was unnaturally quiet except for the guard towers looking out towards the surrounding areas. Then all of a sudden bright lights appeared out of nowhere, followed by shouting, and then me ending face first into the ground after being tackled by several men.

"What the fuck is this!? What'd we do!?" I heard Kennedy's shouting as he was being zip tied with an M4 to his head. I then looked in another direction to see Sawyer get punched in the face, and then I heard another voice that I didn't want to hear.

"That's enough Frost! I wanted them detained not beaten! _Him_ however do what you please."

"KANE! What the fuck are you doing!?"

"I ought to be asking you that same question boy. You just ruined eight months hard work, I warned you not to test us."

As he walked off, the one called Frost walked over to me. Three men had me pinned to the ground and I couldn't move. The last thing I remembered was his boot coming down on my face.

…

Daylight, followed by a throbbing headache, and numbness all over. From what I saw the cell I was in they must have thrown me in the detainee cells and injected me with something so that I wouldn't cause too much trouble. I was also stripped of my gear down to my fatigues, they even took my boots. While I could stand I couldn't get my arms to move, that's when I felt a zip tie around my wrists. As I sat down on the cot with no sheets, I looked through the bars at a dimly lit hallway. All I could hear was the small hum of the heating vents and the occasional gust of wind hitting on the reinforced glass window above my head, I was alone.

 _Where's the rest of the team?_

Then came the opening of a metal door followed by slow moving footsteps, I shut my eyes and decided not to say anything until whoever it was spoke first. No surprise, it was Brooks.

"I can make this very easy for you Andrushko. Just tell us where Kasim went and we'll pretend all of this never happened."

I opened my eyes slowly and looked toward him with utter hate.

"So you can find him and cap a leak on all the shit you and the rest of the SAD are pulling out here? Fuck off."

After a moment of pause he responded without emotion.

"You really _are_ just a stupid kid with childish dreams. You think that we are supposed to be righteous and just and set an example for the world to see how right we are? When in reality the world is cruel, unfair, and misshapen. Our goal here is to find those responsible for attacking our country and then leaving. Have you even seen the regular grunts that go out on patrols here? They don't give a shit about these backwards fucks and their mud huts and neither do we. They can hate us all they want but it doesn't change the fact that we are on a mission."

He then snapped his fingers rather violently and I then heard multiple footsteps coming down to the cell. One of the contract guards for the site and the bandaged and bruised face of a SAD member I beat senseless, Trent.

"Take him to Kane. Seems he doesn't feel like taking the easy way."

As he opened the cell door Trent approached and then rifle butted me in the stomach. As I let out a painful shout and cough, he grabbed my slightly longer than normal hair and pulled my head back.

"You REALLY don't have any idea what you've done you stupid son of a bitch!"

As they then hauled me up they then took me outside. It wasn't terrible out today but I could tell it was getting close to noon. And the rough stuff had already begun since we were obviously walking towards the interrogation building I still didn't have my boots on and the rocks were digging into my feet.

"Hold up. That man is still a US Military prisoner, he will be treated as one."

I then turned to the familiar voice, Lucente. With Sawyer behind him holding my boots, but both of them were without their weapons and gear.

"Very well Sergeant. We only need one thing out of him and once that's done you can call your superiors and escort him to Kabul where he'll face a court martial."

He then approached me, and motioned me to turn around, he then cut the straps. Sawyer then threw the boots at me and then walked off aggressively. Lucente then stared at me coldly.

"I take back what I said to you the other day. Your just a selfish fool, Kane told us what you did and who you let go. But I'll let him tell you who that was."

As he walked off I tried to get his attention but Trent pulled me by the shoulder hard.

"Put your damn shoes on and let's go! Kane's waiting."

 **1529 Hours**

With no windows, a single door, and a single light hanging over my head, it was the basic standard for where one wanted to "acquire" information from prisoners. As I was tied with brand new zips, Kane was just sitting in front of me for what seemed to be an hour just looking at me. But what really weighted heavily on me was who his guard was, Ken. That meant two things, one; he was there to make sure Kane didn't make too much of a mess out of me. Or two; he wanted to rub extra salt in the wound considering in his mind I just committed treason. But the real traitor was right in front of me, he knew I was on to him. After a few more minutes, his cell phone rang.

"Yes?"

…

"I'll have to explain it to him. Take your time."

He put his cell back in his pocket and stood up from his chair.

"I don't know what craziness Kasim said to you but it is abundantly clear you cannot handle the difficult choices or the effort it takes to accomplish a mission in the world of black ops. It's sad though, you had so much potential, and you decided to throw it all away based on your gut on what was right."

I then began to chuckle, he was truly full of himself. One of the things I was literally praised for during my time in training when I was in _Pineland_ in Ft. Bragg was my ability to read people, to see through truth and lies. And what was in front of me was a Cold War leftover that just wanted to keep working until he got his big break.

"What's so funny?" He said eyebrow raised.

"You, and your hypocrisy. Difficult choices? You and the CIA are just making this country into a mess just so you can probably spend your years annual budget and ignore whatever the hell else happens. Like or not Kane, grudges from people in nations like this don't fade or stop hurting. They'll keep fighting until they win or there's no one left. What's worse is that you assholes know where the key players are, you could kill them and end this war today. But you won't, cause it's not as profitable."

His eyes then twitched slightly, I got under his skin but Kennedy then stepped forward under the lamp.

"This goes beyond what the CIA is doing Captain. Kasim wasn't just an arms dealer, he was an agent working for the ISI."

The Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan was a key ally in combating the Taliban here during the Soviet-Afghan War. But decades later it had manifested into what is known as a state within a state, that while they represented the Pakistani government they didn't really act on their full behalf. Counter intelligence was something that the CIA did to all countries but why was the ISI so special all of the sudden? But then the answer was obvious and I looked back towards Kane.

"Let me guess, when you first met Simran you told him something that you probably shouldn't have right?"

The silence was an acceptable answer but surprisingly Kane answered my question anyway.

"I made him an offer and he decided to back out after we agreed. Naturally I can't let him get away with what he knows, and only you truly know where he went."

"So what are you gonna do? When I show up to my court martial with electrical scars or even worse not show up at all, the Army is gonna start asking a lot of questions."

"That is why Sergeant Kennedy is here. He asked to be a witness when we were questioning him and your team on why you did what you did. Thankfully for them, they didn't know what you were doing. So just for now, we wait."

 _Wait for what and what the hell's he planning? I only memorized Simran's number, not where he is. But they don't need to know that._

 **1802 Hours**

Time had literally become a crawl for how long I was waiting for whatever the hell that was going to happen happen. Kane and Kennedy were quietly discussing multiple things every now and then, most of it uninteresting or trivial. This must have been part of the interrogation, to keep me tense and maybe I'll let something slip. I did let something slip though, the zip ties behind my back. Whenever they were not standing behind me I pulled on them ever so slightly to loosen them up, with my strength all it really takes is one heavy thrust forward and they'll snap. Being a large man had its benefits, and what was just as beneficial was that the drug they shot me with was starting to wear off, I could still feel numbness but not as much.

"Kane, we've been sitting here for hours. We should just take him to CID in Kabul and be done with it, you're wasting time."

"Calm down Sergeant. What we need should be here momentarily."

No sooner the moment he said that I heard shouting outside the door. The shouting of Pashto from a woman. Then entered the guy who booted me in the face, Frost, and behind him a bound woman as he threw her to the floor. She wore a black bag over her head and western style clothing more suited to business casual but it was also dirty and ripped in several areas. But what followed next I didn't want to believe and then the fear hit me.

 _Oh God please no!_

Frost placed her on her knees and then took of the bag, her glasses were gone but her face was covered in cuts and tears, Khandan.

"Don't look so surprised Andrushko you're the one that decided to involve her in all of this. When you took Trent's phone you obviously didn't take into account that we'd check his call history." He said forcefully grabbing her hair as she was struggling.

"DAMIEN! THEY CAME AND SHOT MY FATHER! THEY SHOT EVERYONE ELSE! THEY BURNED DOWN OUR HOME!"

As she was crying hysterically I then looked back over to Kane and he was just as expressionless as he was the whole time. Kennedy however had the look of confusion and shock.

"Kane what the hell is this all about!? She doesn't have anything to do with this!"

"Your wrong Sergeant, YOU no longer do."

As he was saying that Kane pulled out a Sig Sauer pistol with a suppressor on it and without warning turned towards Kennedy. There was only a brief moment of surprise of what Louis realized but it was too late as Kane shot him in the head. Time froze for me in that brief moment and then returned as his body fell to the floor and Khandan started screaming. Frost then smacked her across the head with his M4. My anger then got the better of me as I tried to rise out of the chair but fell face first on the floor.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!"

Kane then walked forward and kicked me in the gut.

"Shut up Andrushko! You could have easily avoided this if you just used your head and stopped trying to wage your own war! I'll tell you the reason why Kasim is so important to us. He was providing intelligence to key Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders on missile strikes on where they would be at. The reason why we haven't been able to end this war quick was because he was keeping them alive! And you let him slip through your fingers as you thought he was some type of sob story."

"What the fuck does that have to do with what you just did!?"

"I'm giving you one chance Andrushko. You can answer me on where Kasim is and go to your court martial with the simple charge of disobeying a mundane order and at the most just get sent back home. As of what happened at this moment, _she_ shot Sergeant Kennedy and was gunned down trying to escape. With her father being a drug dealer it'd be no surprise that she was trying to make some connections in ISAF to find some distributors. It's an easy story to make."

That was why he got her involved in this. Tie up another loose end and use her as a scapegoat.

"Or you can spend your life in federal prison for compromising national security by letting a spy go and murdering one of your own men so you could try and hide evidence of treason."

 _Either way he's going to kill her and this shit gonna continue. He's making me out as a coward backed into a corner with one choice or the other._

…

 _Fuck this. I've had enough, I'm gonna do what_ I _think is right. No one control's me and I'm nothing like this fucking scum._

"Well, what's your answer?"

I shut my eyes and breathed deeply and started to pull apart the ties, I had to time this right, I then looked over to her.

"Khandan I shouldn't have got you involved in this, I can't apologize to you cause I don't have the right. Kane?"

He then looked down to me, I would be the last man he ever looked down on.

"I don't got time for this shit!"

Using all my might I broke the ties and with a roll threw the chair at Frost sending him back in a stumble. At the same time during the roll I sprang up at Kane. He tried to aim his pistol but I was planning on taking it. With both hands I grabbed his arm and hand and aimed the pistol towards Frost. Before he could react I hit him with a double tap, then using my height advantage nailed Kane with a reverse elbow and twisting his arm around so that he was pointing his on pistol at his neck. The bullet went through easy but it didn't kill him, what happened next was the gurgles and the reaction of him choking on his own blood and inability to properly breathe. He then dropped to his knees as he looked up at me with hatred in his eyes and his hands around his neck trying to stop the hemorrhaging. I wasn't gonna bother finishing him off, as he hit the floor I let him bleed out and suffer. I then kneeled down and untied Khandan, unfortunately I didn't know what to do next. But at least Khandan was ok, and we could both testify on what Kane was trying to do. She then hugged me still crying.

"Wallah! Damien! What's going to happen to us!?"

"I don't know! But I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you!"

She was still sobbing but she had at least calmed down a bit.

"When I said I would help you I meant it! I'm not letting men like this get away with killing innocent people! I don't care what happens to me now! I have nothing!"

I then took her off of me and placed both my hands on her face.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. Calm down. You've got me, and you've got a future helping people get better. You're gonna have it, all of it! I'm not letting anymore innocent people like you suffer because of assholes like Kane. Ok?"

In that moment, slowly came that innocent smile she normally had when we talked. And then she placed hands on my face and spoke with confidence. "Ok."

"Ok, we gotta get out of here. And we got to call SOCOM, they'll know what to do."

As I let her go I kneeled at Kane's corpse and searched his pockets for his phone. But when I found it I heard the sound of a gun being unholstered. Then multiple shots rang out but what hit me was one solid force, Khandan's body. With Kane's pistol still in hand quickly turned around and emptied the clip into the now fully dead Frost. Khandan was still holding on to me but I felt something wet on my hand, blood. I then heard shouting outside, guards were moving toward us. I grabbed Khandan and got out of the interrogation room quickly away from the sounds of running footsteps towards one of the hangers where the MATV's were.

I set her down near one of the tool chests and grabbed the first aid box off the wall but before I could do anything she then took my hand with force.

"Why?" I asked.

"You didn't deserve such a cruel fate Damien." She said weakly.

"What are you talking about!?"

"When we first talked to each other on the day I ran into you I saw uncertainty in your eyes. You didn't really knew if you should be here."

"I…I…!"

"Shhhh. That doesn't matter now, what does is that you are better than them in every way possible. You were willing to sacrifice everything to make sure that true justice was served. Don't let what Kane said or did be the end of you. You said you wanted to make an impact on the world, so do it in a way that only YOU want. I know you'll make the right choice."

She then reached up to my face with her other hand. I then realized I was crying.

"Your eyes, their so unnaturally blue as well as gentle looking…for a big ape."

What she said in last moment was kind of funny, she managed to see me smile until her one hand fell to the floor and the other loosen its grip in my own hand. I then gently placed both her hands across her chest and shut her eye's. As I stood up I began shaking all over, my fists and teeth clenched hard and only one thought was running through my head, destruction.

 **1905 Hours**

Anvil had been placed in total lockdown mode, no transmissions, vehicle or air traffic going in or out of the site. Only ones were the radios inside the site and for the site only. As Ruvic and Trent were scouring the area around the interrogation building, Brooks was on his radio.

"I want Andrushko and Fahim's daughter found now! Tear the whole base apart and give Iron 3 and 4 their weapons back! Let them know their former Captain just shot one of their own team!"

" _Sir! We've found a blood trail going into the hangers."_

"If you see either of them in there you are declared hot!"

Three men stacked up to enter with five outside for support. After going through the fatal funnel, the lights on their M4's lit up the dark hanger. There were four MATV's along with tool chests lining the walls with shelves of various lubricants. But what lurked in the shadows was an enraged monster waiting to pounce and kill. The team lead followed the blood trail to Khandan's body. He then got on his radio, unaware of the figure above them in the rafters.

" _We found the girl. She's dead. No sign of-AAAAUGH!"_

The screech of the radio caused Brooks to cup his ear in pain. Damien was still in there so he motioned to the support team to move in with frag grenades. But before they could stack at the door there was the revving of an engine. Suddenly one of the MATV's smashed through the simple garage door and careening across the motorpool, the SAD members and guards opened fire on the truck hoping to disable it as the rifle rounds would just bounce off the armored cabin. But then it started twisting erratically and rolled onto its side sliding into a building.

As the SAD members and guards moved toward the rolled truck, Brooks motioned to one of them to check it. Switching on the light on his MP5 he made his way to the turret hatch, bent open from the violent crash, there was no one inside.

"Brooks! This thing's empty!"

Realizing what he had just fell for he turned the opposite direction and started sprinting.

"SHIT! Hanger!"

Brooks was first inside after passing through the broken open garage door scanning around with his rifle not thinking tactfully at that point. He then made towards the light's and after he turned them on, saw his breaching team. They were stripped of their weapons and equipment and were apparently killed with tools. One had a screwdriver jammed into his head while the other two were they were beaten with a wrench so hard that the tool was warped. Damien was already long gone.

Across the base one of the corner guard towers was scanning the interior of the base. The threat tonight was inside not out, but it was closer than he thought. As he heard a metallic thump and roll he already knew what was inside the tower with him but it was too late. As the blast sent both him and the tower apart, two contractors noticed the explosion and took cover behind one of the buildings along the wall, the one looking at the tower got on his radio.

"Brooks! He's over here! South east side! He just took out the guard tower!"

" _Don't let him jump the fence! We're moving to you now!"_

"Got it! Ok lets…huh?"

His partner wasn't behind him anymore. Keeping his weapon high and at the ready he moved around the corner or the building and saw his partner lying face down but his body was facing up toward the sky. In the slight moment of pause a massive hand came down in front of his eyes and grabbed him by the nostrils yanking his head back violently then in a flash a fist came towards his chest and landed with a sickening crack forcing him against the side of the building. He then saw Damien, wearing the stolen bloody gear of a SAD team, his fist still on his chest and his other hand holding his weapon against him. As he then yanked his weapon from him and backed away he realized what was holding him against the wall. A piece of rebar from the fallen tower had impaled him through his chest, the siding, and the plywood of the building.

"Stick around." Damien said with a rather evil smile.

Apparently some didn't care about the risks about Anvil being exposed and tried to undo the communications lockdown on the computers. Kramer was arguing with one another one of the contractors who was on the comms.

"He's tearing this place apart!"

"It's just one man! We'll find him! You want to compromise this site!?"

"It's already compromised!"

Another SAD member then leaned inside from the open door. "Damnit Kramer let him do what he wants! We need to find-AAAAHH!"

A burst of fire then ripped through him as the two men hit the floor for cover, then a large red plastic container flew past the fallen man. Taped to it was a grenade without it's spoon. The blast was not huge but the fireball was and it had totally engulfed the comms building. Damien then darted off looking to keep the kill count growing, the screams of men being burned alive behind him.

"Sorry. You've been disconnected."

Suddenly more gunfire opened up. Brooks didn't need to figure out that the guards were starting to lose their cool, they were shooting at shadows. But it then started to become more and more intense, he then looked to Trent and Ruvic.

"Looks like Andrushko's done hiding. We're ending this now, Ruvic do you still have that AT4?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He said with an arrogant smirk.

A much larger explosion then happened and were followed but a series of twoomps all three looked at the fire balls popping up lighting up the entire site, Trent knew where he was at now.

"Looks like he just hit our fuel point, it's not in that direction is it?"

"No, it's this way lets go."

As they both left, Brooks was still looking in the direction of the fire, Ruvic got his attention.

"Brooks! Come on!"

He kept eyes on the fire till the last moment as he hurried off with the other two and probably last members of his SAD team.

 _He was trouble from the start, there was no way a maniac like that would ever listen to us. Kane, you fucking idiot._

Panic, fear, impending death. These thoughts were going through the minds of whoever was left on the burning black site once known as Anvil. Shell casings, bullet holes, burning buildings, scattered weapons, and bleeding out corpses were everywhere. Damien was constantly on the move using the multiple sources of cover taking out one or two men at a time. He was running solely on his hatred. Hatred that he had be manipulated, forced to witness horrible things, denied his ability to do his duty, and have an innocent girl die in his arms. He was drenched in sweat from his constant sprinting and when not shooting his enemies, stabbing them relentlessly or beating them with his bare hands. Combined with the cold of the night, his sweat emanated off of him like an aura, like an aura of violence. Seeing no one else around he assumed they were all dead and turned around towards the motorpool. Pausing at a several mangled concrete barriers upon hearing a familiar Spanish accent.

"CAPTAIN STOP!"

Damien slowly turned around, Sawyer and Lucente were behind him with weapons aimed.

"Drops the guns Andrushko! It's over!"

Damien remained still as a statue, he had already killed so many in one night. But he didn't know for sure if he could shoot his own team.

"James…Nestor…I…"

"SHUT UP!" Lucente said with uncharacteristic anger. "I don't care what fucking reason you're doing all this for! End it now or we will kill you!"

"Wanna know something pathetic Damien? I actually wanted to side with you on what Kane has been doing. But I never expected you to go THIS far. Give it up."

Damien continued to hold his pose, head turned to the both of them, one hand on the stolen carbine, and the expression on his face was a mixture of concern and being perplexed. He didn't know what to do next. But he then noticed a bald figure behind a steel container holding a cyndrilical object and putting it on his shoulder. Damien's eye's widened in fear.

"SHIT! COVER!"

The rocket fired and the shot hit its mark landing in the center of the three men sending concrete and dust everywhere. As Brooks then dropped the spent tube on the ground, Trent spoke up.

"Did you have to hit all three of them?" He said without emotion.

"All that matters at this point is trying to make up a story to explain to Langley, just make sure they're dead."

Ruvic and Trent then slowly made toward the blast area where two of the three Green Berets were dead. The blast and the large amount of shrapnel wounds indicated that the cause of the deaths of James Sawyer and Nestor Lucente was instantaneous. Ruvic then looked to one specific concrete barrier, it had taken damage but unlike the rest of them was intact. He then motioned to Trent and they both moved toward it with guns high at the ready. They peered over it, but there was only a ruined M4 and no body. Suddenly to their right was an eruption of several small concrete pieces, Damien hid under them and waited for Trent and Ruvic to get close enough. He opened fire with two stolen Sig Sauer's, and both men fell before they even knew what hit them.

"DAMN YOOUUU!"

Brooks saw Damien and then open fired in full auto mode while advancing from the container. Damien ducked back down to whatever cover he could find and sprinted to the armored Humvees. Brooks then reloaded and made it in between the two rows of them and slowly advanced, he then saw an empty Sig on the ground and knew Damien was running out of ammo and waiting to pounce so he decided he put him more on edge hoping he'd expose himself unnecessarily.

"I know you're still here Damien. So let me say congratulations, you infinitely surpassed to what _I_ expected out of you."

He knew he was still somewhere in between the two rows of Humvees and continued.

"Don't know what I'm talking about? Think back, all the way to West Point and your training days. What you were perfect at, what kind of knowledge you preferred, how you acted. It was all based around violence and look around you, this is what your best at! In West Point you did a class lecture on medieval warfare on how sword fighting is to be properly done to kill a man as quickly as possible, quite descriptively in fact. So much so the teaching staff questioned you about your mental stability. During airborne training when one of your classmates was being dragged from the plane when his chute got caught you were the only one who didn't even acknowledge or care that a man had just died. Even after you were being disciplined and threatened to be kicked out of the course you pulled some regulation out of your ass and told them that they couldn't and you got them removed from their training positions. During your Green Beret combat training, you beat your instructor so badly you nearly put him into a coma. During all that time they didn't know how to discipline you because you powered through all their punishment and still kept passing their tests. So they just decided to get rid of you. But you got your father to jump in at the last second and you essentially cheated your way into the Special Forces."

Brooks then heard dirt shuffle to his left rear.

"The reason why Kane wanted to recruit a freak like you was that he thought that you could perform the impossible. That you can use both aggression and manipulation at the same time. He thought he could have easily got you dancing to his tune and getting the nasty jobs done. But I warned him that you were too independent and too smart for your own good. Not to mention dangerous and trying so desperately to be like daddy."

Suddenly the humvee's light's came on and as Brooks squinted his eyes Damien leaped off the hood onto Brooks. As he fired his M4 blindly Damien screamed as one of the shots hit their mark but he still landed on Brooks knocking his weapon away from him. Getting into a dominant mount Damien delivered a strike but Brooks blocked it and pulled Damien down and both rolled along the ground trying to get an advantage on their opponent. While both on their sides Brooks pushed Damien off of him and both got to their feet. Damien approached with a round house but Brooks countered with forward side kick. He then threw a straight but Damien closed the distance with a block but failed to follow through with an uppercut. Brooks then came forward with a jump kick but Damien moved to the side to deliver a knee but Brooks caught it and both at the same time delivered a straight left to the face. Again they backed up into defensive stances Damien seemingly unfazed by the fact that there was a chunk of him missing from his left side from where Brooks shot him.

"Even if you kill me, it won't matter. You're only delaying the inevitable Andrushko. The CIA will figure out what happened here eventually and you now have a permanent target on your back. No matter how far away you go or fast you run we will never stop chasing you."

Damien then spat out blood. "Then it's a good thing I got a lot of stamina."

Damien knew that it was now or never, Brooks was still armed and he only had his knife. Placing all or nothing on it he rushed at Brooks. He was quicker on the draw but Damien then kicked up some of the Afghan moon dust at him. The side arm was up a Damien's chest but falling back on his skills in Krav Maga he slashed the pistol out of his hand by cutting his wrist. Brooks had however predicted the follow up and blocked the overhead stab. He then landed a knee in Damien's injured side. Taking advantage of his pain he brandished his own knife, delivering a swing, and the blades connected. Using his free hand, Damien delivered a punch to the stomach. Brooks brought the knife around and attempted a cut but he missed. Damien then made what appeared to be a haymaker but as he was halfway through the swing, he dropped his blade into his other hand. At the same time Brooks was going to counter it with a strike of his own but he was left wide open. Damien brought the blade straight up through his jaw and into his brain. Brooks' body immediately went lifeless and blood flowed from his jaw covering Damien's hand. He then kicked his body off of the blade. His sweat still emanating from him like an aura in the cold night, his unnatural blue eyes void of emotion, and covered in dirt and blood he was satisfied with his fill, Damien then let out a vicious roar.

 **February 10** **th** **2008 0001 Hours**

 **Location Unknown, Kandahar Province, Moving towards Pakistan**

No one would ever control me again, no one would make me out to be their scapegoat, no one would ever tell me what I should think is right or wrong, everything from here on out was gonna be my choice and mine alone. However I had to find some way to get money to get as far away from Afghanistan as possible in a short amount of time. Having access to a lot of US weapons and CIA tech, of what I could salvage, would prove to be enough. After gathering as many weapons and equipment as I could, I stuffed it inside one of the undamaged MATV's and made a beeline towards Pakistan. I kept all the lights out and the only images I saw were through my NVG's going fast but careful as to not hit any ditches or large rocks and go around any large hills. I was multitasking a little more than I should as I had to focus on not crashing, not passing out from the blood loss from my wound and talking to Simran on Kane's cell. All he needed to know was that I ran and I had nowhere to go.

"You said you owed me, I'm calling in the favor right now."

" _Hmm. You're right I do. But I didn't expect it this soon, what really happened Captain?"_

"Well let's just say I'm not a Captain anymore and we'll leave it at that. But I need into Pakistan and you are the one that can get me in without anyone really looking."

" _Now how could I-"_

"I know you're ISI Simran! Look I'll explain everything later but I am desperate! I need to get away from the US military. I'm little more than two hours away from the Pakistani border and I've been lucky so far that I haven't been spotted by any night patrols. I just need out of Afghanistan, can you help me!?"

There was a moment of silence on the phone but I heard him sigh.

" _What is your current heading?"_

I then checked my Garmin. "South east at 158 degrees."

" _I'm going to text you some coordinates. It's one mile from the border, my men will meet you there."_

 **0201 Hours**

 **Azam Khan, Kasim's Safehouse, Pakistan**

Explaining the story all over again didn't convince Simran that I had actually did what I did. But as I told him again to believe my actions instead of my words he was a little uneasy around me. Which was highlighted by the two armed guards he had. Needless to say I was utterly exhausted and I didn't really have any strength left in me to fight if something went wrong so I wasn't going to start anything. As his men were unloading all the guns, tech, and occasional grenade out of the MATV downstairs in the garage his medic was stitching up my side. Simran sat in front of me much more cleaned up than our last meeting but still had his eye swollen shut from the beating he received, smoking a cigarette.

"So now that you are here. What will you do?"

My mind at the time was totally blank so I answered honestly. "I don't know."

He then put out his cigarette. "It's tragic on what happened to your men and that girl, but she saved your life and your men wanted to keep you alive. Don't hate yourself for that."

As he stood up I still had a blank image running through my head. The adrenaline was gone, the anger had subsided, and I was calm. That shouldn't be possible.

"I take it that it was Kane who told you who I was. What did he say about me?"

"That you were providing the locations of where the US Air Force was going to conduct its strikes on key Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders allowing them to keep on the move."

He then formed a slight smirk and then motioned to one of his men to a trunk.

"That's not really 100% true. There are leaks everywhere like that but I guarantee that he didn't tell you everything. As a matter of fact they've known about that since your war there started seven years ago. What they were really interested in, is to try and denuclearize us."

"What? Why the hell are they interested in that?"

One of his men then approached us with two glasses and a bottle in his hands, vodka. Needless to say I did need something to drink to get some type of shock back into my system. Simran then continued as his man poured the glasses.

"I don't need to tell you that sometimes the United States wants to think that it's the world police. But more often than not, once they see an opportunity they take every chance they have to spread their tentacles into the affairs of others no matter how trivial. They want to stay as the apex military of the world and they'll do anything to insure that as you can attest from what you've seen and experienced."

He then grabbed his glass and looked into it shifting the ice around.

"Kane wanted me to help set up the agency to make some big holes in our nuclear defense so that if any relations between our two countries went poor they would use it as leverage to make my government cooperate with the United States. I unfortunately decided to agree and didn't realize that the fallout that would follow would be disastrous. So I changed my mind and he came up with some story that I was some sort of super-terrorist and you know the rest. Now I know what you might be thinking, why didn't I just report this to my superiors in Islamabad? Well I love my country but I know it's not perfect. I don't care what either side does. While I do work for both an arms dealer and my government I told you the only side that I take is the one that supplies, I don't care about causes."

He then handed me one of the glasses, I took it wincing in pain from the gunshot wound.

"However you did save my life and I am indebted to repay you for that. You probably want to get as far away from this place as possible and I'll help you do it. Once that happens, we're even."

He held up his glass for a toast of agreement. Naturally at this particular moment I didn't have a choice at this moment. I was a wanted fugitive now. I tapped his glass and we drank to our accord.

"AHH! Now we shall save what we will arrange for each other later. It's the middle of the night and your exhausted, take some time to rest your mind and body. I will make a few calls in the morning, I know a few individuals that would love the opportunity to have an actual United States Special Forces Operative as one of their employees. Not to mention I will share with you the profits of those guns and vehicle you gave to me for free."

"I don't care what you pay me. As long as I have a choice in the matter we agreed upon."

In that moment, I took my first step into a dark world.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: On The Hunt**

 **Present Time**

 **August 4** **th** **2010 0100 Hours**

 **The Nubian Desert, Sudan**

Silence. That was the only conversation she and I had for the last two hours, what could she say? At least this time I didn't throw up when I was finished with Lehm. But her reaction was one that I expected, fear and sorrow. The cold and ruthless ways I killed all those men. How my anger caused me to go completely berserk. My own team getting caught in the crossfire. And lastly how I ruined a young woman's future. It was more than appropriate for CIA to coin me with the title of "Nightmare", as if they were cursing me. It didn't happen instantly but gradually as time went on my choices began eating me away from the inside. That I couldn't sleep at night without hearing gunfire, screams of dying men and walking in a sea of blood. On jobs I took where I was technically committing murder. That I could never go home again, much less even see or speak to any of my family. I thought because of how smart I was I thought I knew how the world worked. But in the end that bastard Brooks was right, I'm just a stupid kid.

We managed to get past the Sudanese border rather easily but we would have to ditch this car and get another one soon. Egyptian plates in Sudan were gonna raise a few more eyebrows than necessary. We had to maintain a low profile at least until we found out where Chan was at. Since we were also in a Islamic country that had a legal system based on Sharia Law we had to be extra careful on not to cause too much of a stir. Being an American was bad enough but Sophia would have the most trouble, simply by being a woman. But I figured she could handle herself if some asshole got a little too misogynistic she'd just stab him to death. Being fluent in Arabic had its perks so I could do most of the interaction with the locals at least until we came across anyone that spoke English. I proved I could handle that better than Sophia when we were filling up on gas before we left Egypt she asked for a plate of fried hair. I was starting to get a little sleepy though, so I pulled off to the side of the road and we'd get back on the trail once morning came around.

"We'll stop here for the night, we'll do a food run first thing in the morning."

I then leaned my seat back as flat as I could and shut my eyes, didn't really matter if I slept or not.

"Damien…"

"I don't wanna talk about it, so fucking drop it."

A growl, then pain started emanating from my stomach.

"I WASN'T GOING TO TALK ABOUT "THAT" YOU ASS!"

"COUGH! COUGH! Ok, sorry. What is it?" My old habit of my temper getting the better of me decided to remind me to think before I spoke.

"If we keep following this road it will eventually turn into a highway that will take us to Khartoum. From what I've been reading on your computer the Chinese are funding an improved railway from there to Port Sudan. A Chinese finance office is there. I figure that be a good place to start looking."

"Hmm. Sounds study enough, better than nothing. Ok before we hit the city we'll get another car in the next town we come across, hopefully one a little larger."

As I shut my eyes again I then realized she was right I really needed to stop being an ass around her at least until our little renegade mission was over.

"All too often I just mouth off instead of wanting to talk about anything sensitive. Sometimes it's just reaction and not intent. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, it wasn't called for."

"It's alright I know you were just venting, and I'm sorry I punched you."

Once again she sets it up.

"Heh heh…the first time or just recently?"

"Good night Damien." She said annoyed.

 **1448 Hours**

 **Khartoum, Sudan**

After ditching our car and managing to find a Land Rover in a small town called Barbar it was about another five hours until we reached the city. The trip was rather boring, just nothing for miles but then again we weren't taking a scenic route and Sudan wasn't really what you would call a place you wanted to go on for a vacation. Once we got to Khartoum Sophia was the navigator and she steered me in the direction of where the bank was. We parked the truck a good two blocks from where we were going to, The China Construction Bank, and walked the rest of the way to do a recon. The sun was blasting on us like a heat ray the whole way, appears as though the dry season wasn't over yet. Even though this was Sudan's capital it looked rather mundane but it's varieties of architecture provided a mix of African and Arabic cultures. I once read that the number of different ethnic and cultural groups in Africa literally reached in the thousands. But today was not a day where we were taking in the sights, we were there to find and cut off the head of the snake of the Tashinhai. But who were taking in the sights were the locals looking at us. Even though we had been wearing casual western wear and kept our scowls behind sunglasses our figures and postures were the most eye catching. A height advantage on everyone, an aggressive walk, tattoo work, long hair on a man, muscular arms on a woman, and scars that signified that they had been in more than their fair share of fights. I was even getting wary looks on getting bottled water from the vendor that was across the street where the bank was. Sophia was sitting on a bench eyeballing it and I handed her a bottle while sitting down next to her. She was doing most of the research while I was driving so I'd follow her lead for now.

"So now that we are technically on a military mission, I'll let you lead the way Major. How do you know this place will lead us to Chan?"

Ignoring my attempt to get a rise out of her she stared back at the bank.

"Since Chan still technically works for the Chinese government he would have to use one of the four main banks in China for anything financial, this is one of them and it's the second largest bank in the world."

"That means that there's a lot of companies we'll have to cross reference." I said as I cupped my chin in a thinking pose.

"Not necessarily. Tashinhai is legit and it's a public company and that means public records, it will be available to us. But they won't let us just walk in and start snooping around."

Then a lightbulb just went off in my head.

"I think I just figured out how we're gonna do that and not seem sketchy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's too late in the day, but we're gonna need to do a few things before we execute this plan. We need to make a call to them, stop by a library, stop by a print shop, get a new change of wardrobe, and I'll need to take your picture."

"What are you planning?" She said with her head tilted.

"You'll see soon enough." I turned back to her smiling.

 **August 5** **th** **2010 0900 Hours**

 **China Construction Bank, Main Accounting Floor, Khartoum**

We weren't going to stay in Khartoum long so we slept in the truck but we both had to make ourselves presentable for our "interview" with this Chinese accountant. After convincing him that he was going to get interviewed by a British news source about Chinese trade in Sudan I managed to work a little magic I had saved on my laptop by making some fake press passes for me and Sophia. After getting cleaned up in a spa and having our first shower in three days we were only gonna wear these cheap three piece suits once and then get rid of them. That also meant I had to put my hair back in a ponytail. I was going to ask why Sophia didn't buy a skirt but I thought better. Having legs that gave Chun-Li a run for her money wouldn't really signify her as a reporter but we needed to keep the guy distracted long enough so that we could find anything that could give us a lead on Chan. As we were sitting in the waiting room, she leaned over to me and whispered.

"Ok, I'll do the interview and keep him distracted, you act like you want to confirm numbers on how much of whatever is going in and out through here. Find anything that relates to Tashinhai or what's been shipped from them."

"Got it. If I find something I'll scratch my forehead with my pinky, try and call my cell discreetly and I'll make something up that we need to leave."

"Sure." She then looked to the secretary that was coming towards us. "Head's up."

"Miss Thatcher, Mr. Orwell, Mr. Leung will be with you momentarily. About five more minutes."

"Thank you ma'am. We look forward to speaking with him." Sophia answered with a posh English accent that reminded me of someone she fought a few months ago. I leaned back over after the secretary left.

"Mildo does not sound that polite, you do know that?"

She scoffed. "Like your one for originality." Referring that I made our fake names from British historical figures.

After a while Leung entered the waiting room. He was of average build but had the description of your average office drone. Shirt and tie, glasses, slightly balding and definitely not expecting his interviewers to be towering well-endowed beasts. All I could do was pray that he didn't see through our disguises.

"Mr. Leung, I'm Damon Orwell and this is my partner Sophie Thatcher, I spoke to you yesterday."

I held out my hand and he took it. I at least kept up my accent but the guy still kept staring at us in awe.

"Ahh yes the reporters from "The Mirror." Please forgive me for staring though I didn't expect my interviewers to look as you do."

"If you're referring to my colleague and her eye she was the victim of an animal attack many years ago. But we're here to discuss the effects on how the Peoples Republic of China is bettering Sudan by helping them rebuild after its civil war."

"Of course follow me."

As we followed him to his office I turned and saw that she was gripping it again. That statement I made was sorta true, an animal did do that to her. As we entered his office, she pulled out my laptop from its brief case and was about to start her phony interview.

"With your permission Mr. Leung I'll conduct the first half of this interview. My partner will need to pull up some numbers for references on how many products China is selling Sudan, he'll need to use your computer. You can sit here next to me."

"Of course Miss Thatcher."

"Please it's Sophie."

Using a little bit more of a convincing tone she managed to hook him. As they started talking about whatever, I got to work.

 _Just keep him distracted for only a bit._

After switching the translation of the screen over to English I started searching through anything that involved Tashinhai. I immediately got a hit but there were quite a few transactions that I had to narrow down to transactions that involved natural resources. After about two minutes searching through oil I got nothing, one minute through natural gas still nothing, but when I hit steel I spotted a shipment of 300 tons of railroad track coming from a steel plant in Ethiopia just last week. The shipment was approved by Guoming Chan.

 _Gotcha. Ok time to get out of here._

I gave the signal and Sophia speed dialed in my cell. I answered the nobody on the other end while logging off of Leung's computer.

"Hello? Yes chief we're…yes but were right in the…alright give us an hour and we'll be there. I'm so sorry Mr. Leung but we have to go it's an emergency. Come on Sophie."

"What but we just started…"

Sophia cut him off. "If it's from our editor and chief then it's an emergency we can't ignore. We'll speak again, thank you for your time."

As we left the tricked accountant behind we subtly hurried to the elevator. As I punched the down button I undid my ponytail and loosened the cuffs on my shirt I turned to Sophia.

"I found Chan, he's in Ethiopia."

"Where?"

"Some steel plant that's next to a town called Sali. About an hour from Lake Tana."

There was a moment of pause but the gratitude finally came when the elevator stopped at the lobby.

"Nice job."

"Thank you. You know when we're not trying to kill each other we make a good team don't we Major?"

She then formed a smile as we made for the exit and to the Land Rover, loosening her tie as we got in.

"Your performance is only average Captain. I expect you to make improvements in your execution."

I chuckled as I started the truck. "Yes, ma'am."

 **1500 Hours**

 **Sudanese Savana, 150 Miles Till The Ethiopian Border**

Our little road trip was longer than I thought it was but it was never boring except for the scenery, just nothing for miles in all directions. Sophia and I just did what we normally did with the rest of the crew on the _Fruition,_ just bullshitting for about an hour or two and occasionally singing the same song that we both liked I had on my iPod playing on the radio. I much preferred that to whatever gibberish was coming out of some African radio station. But the fun and games would end the moment we hit Ethiopia, if Chan wasn't there we both agreed we'd just grab one of his cronies and beat some answers out of him. Or her if Low was there at that steel plant.

Gedaref was pretty much the last major town we would come across until we hit the border so we stocked up on food, water, some extra first aid supplies, medicine and gasoline. We also checked the truck to make sure all its bells and whistles were in proper tune because we were gonna be completely out in the middle of nowhere and if we broke down then we were screwed. The only thing I wish we could get more of was ammo and neither of us knew where we could find any type of militia to get some from. Not that they like to advertise where they hang out and they probably wouldn't have any for the types of guns I had.

"Oh by the way I forgot to ask. Which guns do you want to use when it's time to go hot?"

"I won't need any. I got this." She pulled out her knife and I let out an agitated sigh.

"I know you can stab and slice faster than some anime samurai but this is real life and I can just do this." I formed my hand into a finger pistol. "Bang. Before you can even get close."

"You saw how I fought Low, don't tell me you doubt me."

Unfortunately she was right, the way she moved didn't seem human. But not everyone's luck lasts forever.

"No…I do not. But at least take my shotgun if you wanna get that close."

"Ugh…fine if it will make you stop bitching I'll keep my sidearm with me."

As I at least breathed a sigh of relief I twisted my neck to relieve some of the stress that I had been sitting in one spot for hours. As I was looking around and the endless plains and sporadic trees with the mountains in the distance I spotted movement in the distance, movement that was rather fast as the truck was going about 60 mph. As it slowed down I slowed the truck to a stop, there was only one animal in the world that could move that fast.

"What's going on? Why are you stopping?"

I turned around to grab my bag and pulled out my camera and binoculars. I handed the binos to Sophia and stepped out of the truck to get as close as I could for a clear shot.

"Take a look in the distance."

We were far enough away from them so that they didn't see us as a threat but were aware of our presence as they were looking right at us, cheetahs, a pack of five. I zoomed the camera in as far as it could and managed to get a few clear shots before they darted off. It was only then I just realized that we _were_ in Africa, and chances are we'd come across something but never something so rare. I got what I needed and went back to the truck and continued on. But Sophia was giving me an annoyed look.

"We're not on safari Damien."

"Hey now, I don't think you realize how rare that is. Cheetahs normally inhabit central and southern Africa, they are never this far north."

"Try and stay focused on the task at hand and not zoology."

I let out a frustrated groan. "Damn girl I figured you of all people would recognize awesome shit."

"And you do?" She said totally unbelieving.

"Duh. I'm sitting next to some of it now."

"Pardon me?" She said sounding offended.

"No I'm serious. I wanna know. Who taught you how to fight the way as you do?" I asked with sincere curiosity.

Silence. I saw her looking out to the plains, I think I must have brought back the bad memories as she was gripping her scar again. She did say she only got this way after her unit got slaughtered. I decided to change the conversation, I swore I would think before I spoke and I was gonna keep doing that.

"Umm…anyway we should be at the border in little more than two and half hours. Why don't you take the wheel after we cross? Then we'll find some place to lay down for the night."

"Fine with me."

 **2000 Hours**

 **Amahara, Ethiopia, Just Over The Border**

Getting across the border took a little more effort than what we initially planned. Since we were in a spot of Africa that had just gotten through a lot of skirmishes the guards at the checkpoint were wary of us. These guys must have seen mercenaries come and go all the time but when one of them gave Sophia a wolf whistle she responded by almost breaking a poor guys hand. But using a few readily prepared phrases I had saved on my phone and flashing $2000 wrapped it up rather quickly and they didn't bother starting anything else. The town was fairly large but not what you would might call well developed, people in this part of the world survived on what they could make with what they had. Which was a firm description of the design of the inn were staying at until morning and in which Sophia "insisted" that I sleep on the floor and she get the bed. At least I still had some cell service in which I could access the internet on my cell, but not my laptop, to find music I could download for my iPod later. It was then I came across a pretty cool techno dance rift. I was more of a rock and roll guy but when I saw the name of the song I couldn't believe that was what it was called.

 _Maybe I could use this as some sort of prank after we're done out here. Providing she don't kill me later._

But we were now in what you might call hostile territory. If Chan got one whiff of us he was gonna run, and we'd probably have to start all over again in our search. It was time to start prepping, I got my bug out bag and pulled out the toys. My distinctive field knife, two M1911A1's, one MP7, one short M870, one .308 Thompson Center Fire and two grenades. My bag was not large enough to store body armor so I just had a carrying vest. I had to be 100% faithful to the golden rule of combat, take cover or die. I then put my headphones in and started loading up the clips with ammo.

A few songs in "Until It Sleeps" began to play, it was one of _her_ favorite songs. My head started bopping a little harder than earlier. But I didn't care, she weened me on what kind of music a boy should listen to. She was a bit of a rebel that wanted to get away from her parents and didn't really finish high school. But she ended up being a great parent herself. And she and dad made each other happy, which goes to prove that not everything is what it seems. As was Sophia's thoughts when I saw her looking at me. Wet washcloth in her hand, probably from washing dead skin off the slight sunburn on her neck and face. And in what appeared to be her sleepwear of a tank top and shorts. Lutz said it best when she wasn't around, a killer body that belonged to an actual killer.

"What are you listening to?"

"Metallica, it was my mother's favorite band."

"Wait a minute, your mother was a fan of metal?" She said almost unbelieving.

"Yeah. She and my dad we're only teenagers when they had me. Both were rebels against my grandparents, that's what they found interesting in each other from what my father said."

"You must have had an unusual childhood. Was she a soldier too?"

"No. Just a high school dropout that was drifting along doing odd jobs until she met my dad when he was stationed in Ft. Benning. She's been dead for years now, cancer."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said as she sat down across from me to help me load the clips.

"Ok your turn. Are you finally going to tell me who taught you how to fight like that? I know the human body can do amazing things and when I was going through my Green Beret training I couldn't believe what they actually taught. But you remember the first gunfight we got into together back in Prague? How you jumped on that van? I couldn't really process the fact that that was real."

She sighed as she placed a full MP7 clip down and took the next one. Then looked at the 4.6 mm round as if she was analyzing it.

"I didn't really start out that way. I've literally been all over the world with Koko and I manage to meet and be trained by some of the best teachers in marksmanship, fighting, survival, and combat experts around. I started building myself up when I first met Koko seven years ago. It was right after THIS happened." She pointed to her missing eye. "I was drowning in paperwork and death reports and finally made out as a scapegoat for my units massacre. That's when I met her."

 _Wait a second, seven years? I know Koko is not really that old but she couldn't be more than a high school freshman if she met her that long ago._

"When she first talked to me I found her wisdom to be intoxicating. She may have looked like a child but she spoke as if she'd seen centuries of knowledge. My unit didn't really accomplish much here in Africa and she said I had another choice to make after I was discharged. A key to a domestic life or a key to the world. Because of that, I think you can figure out which key I took. I owe everything to Koko, she helped me unlock the world. I love her with all my heart, I would do anything for her. But I couldn't let what Chan did go unanswered."

The woman walked along a grey path. But beneath that occasionally cold personification beat a strong heart and a concern for those that she held close. She said she'd help me make an impact on the world without dropping my title as a soldier, a chance at redemption. But I then realized I don't need the world, I'm a simple man when it came right to it. I only needed the simple things, like finding humor in wherever I could look.

"Now what are you smiling at?" She asked.

"Just had a quick image going through my head. I don't think domestic life suits you either. You in a dress, holding a roast, asking your husband how his day was, acting all chipper? That's got to be the most freighting thing I could ever think of."

She then formed a slight smirk. "You're right. I'd feel better off covering myself in sugar and letting horsefly's eat me alive."

 **August 6** **th** **2010 1000 Hours**

 **One and a Half Miles From Hong Taiyang Steel, Sali, Ethiopia**

We got up extra early and speeded around Lake Tana and headed into what was open plains and rolling hills to our north. We decided to set up shop in the previous village that was quite a distance away from Sali by giving a farmer a grand to stay in one of his store houses. As that a sizable amount of who populated the town next to the steel mill consisted of Chinese. No doubt a few of them worked for Tashinhai and a couple of outsiders like us would stick out like a sore thumb.

Scouting was the bread and butter of turning a battle in your favor. Sophia and I were positioned on a ridge that oversaw the plant, giving us a nice panoramic view of the entire place. The mill was not huge but the blast furnace was belching out smoke that I could smell burning metal all the way from where we were at. Multiple buildings were packed tightly within the fenced off plant, most likely the rolling, casting, and fabricating areas with a shipping and receiving dock hauling in ore and delivering finished products. We both continued to scan the area looking for anyone that might have looked like Chan. I handed Sophia the binos and I kept an eye on the roads leading in and out to see if any VIP's were visiting.

"Anything?"

"Nothing yet but this is the place cause I didn't think the guards at steel mill's needed to carry those kinds of weapons."

They weren't dressed in security uniforms but the assault rifles, radios, and of course their posture were dead giveaways. The workers at the plant seemed to be a bit uneasy around the guards but they just worked there, so there was no reason to declare them as hostile unless one of them started shooting at us. It was then that I spotted several figures out in the distance, three of them next to a black sedan with no one else around. One of them slightly hunched over. I shook Sophia's shoulder.

"Let me see those."

I zoomed in as far as they would let me. I then saw a man with a cane that reminded me of an old man who spoke to Koko during the DIESA convention.

"Jackpot. Northwest corner, slag dump, black sedan."

I handed the binos back to her. I could tell she wanted him bad by the way her mouth formed a snarl.

"You're right it's him and Low is with him as well. Hold on."

"What's up?"

"She looks like she's pleading with...hmpf. The third man, looks like he just took her job. He shoved her into a dirt pile."

I could just make it out but I saw her then stand back up, salute, and then drive off in the sedan. Hopefully that was one less problem to worry about. But I then got hit with another one as Sophia then pulled out her blade and pistol.

"Ok, let's do this."

As she was about to stand up I pulled her back down to the ground hard.

"Hold up! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Let go of me Damien!"

"Christ will you listen! You have no idea how many people Chan's got protecting him and it's the middle of the day. Security is at its highest right now!"

She swatted my arm off her and got on one knee.

"Neither of us know how long he is going to be there. If I don't take this chance now I'll lose it!"

I then let out a grunt of frustration and got on one knee and got face to face with her. I figured she would have used her own sound judgement but it looked like I'd have to reminder her.

"That won't matter if you go and get yourself killed. I told you before, I'm not gonna let you make the same mistakes I did. You can have Chan, but we are going to plan this out MY way. You said you trusted me, do you?"

Her good eye started twitching and she then shut it while letting out a frustrated exhale shifting her head to her right. I cupped her face alongside her scarred eye and turned it towards me.

"Do you?"

I looked at her and spoke in the same manner as I did to Koko when we were in Dubai. Her expression baffled on how I was being so close to her but then relaxed.

"This goes against my better instincts but yes I do." I took my hand off her and we both started to walk back to the village.

"Alright here's the plan. We go back to the village and drive to the outskirts of town away from the mill. Since steel mills always work in shifts we'll come back later when that happens. We'll try and hide amongst the people going in and out, all we really need to do is get in. Once that happens we find a security station and figure out the interior of the place. We then find Chan, you do what you need to do, and we run."

She didn't respond. I turned around and she was looking away with a look of regret and sadness. The way I addressed others often described me as some sort of asshole tough guy but sometimes I had a weakness for sounding comforting and not sounding like I normally did. I think that was an inheritance I got from my mother.

"Hey we've already come this far that it makes no sense to turn around. And I don't think losing is an option for you." I winked at her. "Right?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

 **1200 Hours**

 **Gereby, Farmers Hay Shed**

We were here, we had what we needed, all that was left was to go through with it. I then realized what I was doing out here in the end, I was associating with preforming a hit. Granted it was not the first time that I had actually done this but something about it felt different. It felt a bit like a journey and that I wasn't alone in it like I often was in the last two and a half years. That I actually had someone I could truly rely on, that I could trust, that I could see for who they really were. Then again that was how I got to know the crew the way I did. When John talked about his times working for Koko's father with Chiquita. When William was giving me a few extra lessons on EOD work. Mao and how he talked about how awesome it was being a dad. Karl teaching me that there's more to sniping that just being a good shot. Michael and I sharing a beer while we were working on his Mercedes. Renato explaining the reasoning for the black feathers he wore sometimes when he had a hat on. Akihito rubbing it in that technology can beat brute force any day. Lastly there was Sophia, the week we spent finding Chan was explanation enough. But strangely the only one I still couldn't figure out was Koko. The grey path, a mind that never seemed to slow down, enthusiasm that made her appear larger than life, cold and calculative reasoning, ruthlessness for her enemies, and on occasion being a little weird. But no matter how this turned out, Sophia and I were going to do what we came to do out here and then go home. And then get the ever loving shit kicked out of us by Koko.

I finished loading up my vest and then took out my blade and began to sharpen it. Around ten inches in length and straight with a ribbed grip. It was entirely black so if it was in the sun then the shine wouldn't give me away, with a gentle and sharpened curve about two and a quarter inch from the tip. Sophia then came over with two bowls of soup, some thick broth with carrots and potatoes, and eyebrow raised at what I was sharpening.

"Is that a sword or a knife?" My sarcasm was rubbing off on her as she set the bowl in front of me.

"Unlike that butter spreader you got?"

She then brandished hers, similar in color but designed completely different. Six inches in length with a sharper more circular curve at the tip with a checkered grip and a rigged edge along the back of the blade.

"Simplicity is just as effective as intimidation, and this hasn't failed me yet."

We both set our knives down opposite of each other and then ate the soup in silence. About three bites in I stared at her a little longer than I thought. I was never this open with anyone before, it was just the two of us for the whole week and I didn't really think about anything else except helping her. Normally I almost never got into the affairs of others it just wasn't my business. But she wanted justice against the man who slaughtered her unit. Hopefully it would give her some closure and allow her to move on with her life and unlike me I wouldn't allow her to be alone once she was done and that included Koko and the gang. She then looked up at me, it was time I'd be honest with her.

"What is it?"

"You're everything that I am not." I said bluntly.

"Ok where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive or redeem myself for what I did. Despite my hulking appearance, occasionally inappropriate sarcasm, and my horribly good ways at killing people I am damaged beyond the point of repair. I know that once you kill Chan the pain won't go away completely but I'm gonna do my damnedest to support you and make sure that you won't end up like me."

"Damien I…"

"I won't take no for an answer."

I gripped her hand rather quickly and tightly with her eye widened in surprise. I then saw that she was starting to blush and I'd be lying if my heart wasn't starting to skip a couple of beats and I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. I then let go of her hand.

"I'm sorry that was uncalled for." I said looking to my soup rather embarrassed.

"Relax, I know what you were trying to do." She said with her hand up in defense.

"Try and act cool and end up being a total idiot?"

"No you established that a long time ago."

"Well then you should realize that I'm not the first idiot that's ever done something for a cute girl."

The response was silent but the expression was one I had all too often seen. _Really?_

I did feel uneasy after I said that though, I thought I was gonna get a knife in the face. But the drowsiness was for some reason starting to get worse and my vision was starting to get blurry. My hearing then started to sound like an echo, only then I realized what the hell happened.

 _Oh my God you can't be serious._

I did my damnedest to keep myself focused and aware but my muscles we're beginning to shut down. I couldn't even say anything. I then planted my face on the table hard. I could still feel things but everything started to turn black and my hearing was out of whack when I then heard loud stomping coming over to my left. I then heard Sophia speak with an echo.

" _I'm sorry Damien, but this was the only way. I know you wanted to make sure we did this right. But this is something I have to do my way and by myself."_ I then felt a hand ruffle through my hair. _"Thank you for coming with me and helping me out all this way, it was really sweet. You can hide it all you want but there is no doubt in my mind that you are a good man. You aren't that same man from what you told me."_

I tried to move and speak but the drug was too strong. Then I felt what I would never expect from someone like her, a kiss on my left cheek.

" _I'll see you later handsome. If I survive that is."_

Then all was darkness and silence.


	23. Chapter 22

**Author's Note:** I've been keeping track of the views and it's really cool to know that your stuff is being read by people all over the world, so big shout out to the world! Like I posted a while ago, I got a real life changing event coming up so I'll do my best to keep y'all entertained. I won't say much but let's say that it is very much real and so is the danger and that's all.

Here's where the ass kicking commences.

 **Chapter 22: Unstoppable and Immovable**

 **Time and Date Unknown**

 **Location Unknown**

A void, and endless white void. As I walked forward I noticed that my body was black as night and my hands were dripping with blood. Then fire surrounded me and as I looked at the ground were faceless corpses and the sounds of suffering screams.

 _HELP ME!_

 _MONSTER!_

 _NO! NO! STAY AWAY!_

I tried to cover my ears but the screams kept coming through then came the ghosts of those long dead.

 _I wanted to save your life!_

Louis Kennedy.

 _You let me die!_

Khandan Fahim.

 _You were supposed to protect me Damien!_

Moka.

Frightened beyond belief I ran in whichever direction was away from them but next came voices from then surrounding darkness. My trainers, teachers, and those that I used to work for.

 _You were supposed to spar with him not try to kill him!_

 _He's dead and he didn't even realize he was a father!_

 _Are you so focused on winning that you forgot about your platoon!?_

 _Does anything you do not include destruction and suffering!?_

 _We warned you not to piss us off!_

 _Face it the only thing you've ever been good at is taking away life!_

"SHUT UUUUUUPP!"

I then collapsed on the ground with my head in incredible pain. It felt like it was about to split open but then all of a sudden was silence. As I opened my eyes there were piercings of light coming through the darkness. For a moment I thought I was going to return to the white void. But the light then began to condense and form a figure, the figure of a woman, with great long hair emanating from her as if she could move it like an arm or leg. Then eyes formed, deep ice blue eyes that showed a gentleness and a welcome warmth. I then stood up to face her and she then hugged me in a way I saw that was familiar. In that moment my flesh was no longer black and the blood on my hands was gone. The figure then looked up to me and spoke.

" _She's in danger."_

…

Daylight, the barn, drugged soup, and falling face first onto a dirty wood floor after standing up too fast. My legs felt like jell-o, my perception was taking a while to get realigned, and my head was throbbing.

"FUCK! What the hell did she use?"

I then checked my watch to see how much time had passed, it was 22 minutes. The distance between this village and the plant was about four and a half miles, there was still time. As I quickly loaded my weapons I grabbed my bag and darted outside to something I didn't want to see, the truck was gone.

 _Shit! She had to have taken it. Ok think, think, think. Aw fuck it just grab something and go!_

As I bolted away from the farm and towards the main street I saw a few people trading at one of the stands from where the farmers were selling their produce but they had nothing but carts and bicycles. That was until after one of the carts opened the view of something I could use. But had never really ridden before.

 _No choice. Plus it's never too late to learn._

 **August 6** **th** **2010 1242 Hours**

 **Hong Taiyang Steel, Sali, Ethiopia**

When a predator stalks its prey its most crucial method of succeeding in surprise is remaining unseen. But you didn't always need to stay hidden behind cover in order to be invisible. As was Valmet's approach to the steel plant's front gate, with the two plain clothes guards armed with Norinco copies of western assault rifles. Unaware that the woman approaching them was deadly in every way possible. The guards must have assumed from a distance her black hair and slightly pale skin she was Chinese but her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses.

"Bang ni?"

(Help you?)

"Duibqi, chufei ni zai zheli you shengyi, women buneng ran ni tonggouo."

(Sorry but unless you have business here we can't let you pass.)

Valmet then answered without really caring what they said as she took off her glasses.

"Yeah, I think this will be rather easy."

Before they could even react she bursted forward with lightning speed and slashed both throats of the men. But not before one of them let off a burst of fire from the reaction of the attack. Unfazed that her ability to sneak was now ruined, Valmet then began her hunt for Guoming Chen.

As the alarms then started blaring all over the mill. He was sitting in his office smoking his favorite brand of cigar filling out paperwork as if nothing happened. He then turned to his newly promoted lieutenant.

"Lee, zhao chu zhe shi guanwu he chuili ta."

(Lee, find out what that was about and deal with it.)

He acknowledged by nodding his head and then headed out towards the commotion. He then got on his radio.

"Suoyou danwei baogao. Fashengle shenme!?"

(All units report in. What's going on!?)

" _Yixie weiraozhe mofang paobu de nuren kan diao dajia!"_

(Some woman's running around the mill slashing up everyone!)

Valmet was pushing herself faster than she had ever done before. She kept to cover by moving around and using anything she could find to shield herself from gunfire. Crates, buildings, dumpsters, steel drums, containers, vehicles, human bodies, anything. Unless they weren't armed they were hostile, each slash and each thrust was to be fatal and move on to find Chan. Panic was beginning to consume the mill as workers were running away from the gunfire and the mad one eyed woman that was killing men armed with assault rifles with just two knives. Knowing he had no intention on failing on his first assignment to General Chan, Lieutenant Lee prepped his support modified T95.

"Ta xianzai zai nali?"

(Where's she at now?)

" _Women wufa dedao renhe qingxi de jingtou! Ta pao bianle suoyou de zoulang!"_

(We can't get any clear shots! She's running around all the corridors!)

"Ba ta chong chulai dakai! Ju ji dui dai ta chuqu!"

(Flush her out into the open! Sniper team take her out!)

Her main objective was Chan but she had to make sure that no one else was there to protect him and she needed to have a way out without too much trouble. Each stab was followed up with a slash, when another group was nearby she used a man's body as a shield, when she was had the high ground she flanked a group and flew down onto them like a hawk grabbing a rabbit with its talons. Her one gold-brown eye full of raging vengeance for those that she lost on that fateful day. She felt like nothing could stand in her way. But another group of eyes were on the hunt as well. The sniper team was already making way to the water tower. Valmet was holding her own against Chan's men but she had to keep moving to avoid being hit. Little did she know she was being lured into a trap.

 **1253 Hours**

 **Main Gate**

Back at the main gate the workers continued to make a quick exit almost running over each other in the process. But they quickly got out of the way when a tall and muscular young man with long brown hair blew past them on an old dirt bike. He seemed to be heading towards the sounds of the gunfire. As he speeded further into the mill he was cut off by two armed guards. They then saw what was coming towards them, but before they could aim and fire he twisted the bike in a way that it would slide towards them like a battering ram. Jumping off the bike and landing in a roll, he let the bike do the work and sent the men flying. He then saw more guards coming to inspect the commotion, he leaped up quickly and pulled up a PDW letting the Chinese know that there was a real life nightmare in the mill.

"Alright you red bastards. Let's do this."

Lee was doing his best to remain calm but his frustration was apparent when his radio came to life again with a panicked voice.

" _Women you ling yige ruquin zhe!"_

(We got another intruder!)

"Gaisi de! Nali?"

(Damn it! Where?")

" _Ta zhengzai qianwang yelian qu."_

(He's heading for the smelting area.)

"Wo hui chuli ta de nimen qita ren sha sin age nuren!"

(I'll handle him. The rest of you kill that woman!)

Lee then racked the bolt back on his T95 and made for the second intruder was at. He was already causing mayhem by getting the drop on the guards and killing them faster than they could react. He was making for the foremen's over watch office overseeing the smelting line three stories up. Those that were at a distance got a burst of 4.6mm rounds. Those that got too close got a face full of 00 buckshot painting floors and walls red. Those that he surprised received steel that pierced through them and were tossed aside as if they were weightless. As he sprinted across the catwalks he seemed unfazed by the heat of the molten steel that filled the whole area, his cold blue emotionless eyes scanning around for others like a machine. After busting open the over watch office, he made for the control panel and after a quick look deducted which button activated the speaker for the entire mill. He then pulled out some cords and his cell phone.

"I'll just get a new one later. I always kept my contacts written down anyway."

After hooking up his phone to the console he heard gunfire outside, she must have been heading in his direction. He went to look at the other window that oversaw some shipping containers next to a water tower. He then noticed movement up top, a sniper team setting up their perch.

 **1300 Hours**

 **Near the Blast Furnace**

 _Come on where the hell could he be?_

Valmet just finished checking her second building but there was no sign of Chan. She then made a mad dash for the next one that looked a little more comfortable that it should. While avoiding the fire of those that were chasing her. But she was unaware that she was being targeted through a scope.

"Ta pao xiang women."

(She's running right toward us.)

"Huo."

(Fire.)

 _ **Bang!**_

The sniper fired but the shot barley grazed past her cheek. Aware that she was now in someone's sights she dove down to the building next to her for cover.

"Ni zenme hui cuoguo de!?"

(How the hell did you miss!?)

The spotter got no answer from his sniper. When he looked to him there was a penny sized hole in his temple. He then quickly looked in the direction the shot came from, a shattered window from the smelting area indicated it's direction. He grabbed the rifle from his fallen comrade but a second shot came out before he could aim. Gravity took over and he fell off the water tower onto the concrete with a sickening splat and crunch. As Valmet was wondering who fired those shots the announcement speakers stopped sounding the alarms and instead was replaced with a techno rhythm and an electronic sounding voice.

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to lose control._

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to take control._

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to lose control._

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to take control._

"What in the hell?" She said flabbergasted.

 **1302 Hours**

 **Smelting Area**

 _I knew this thing would come in handy one day._

As I reloaded my scoped Center Fire, I grabbed the mike for the speakers since the song was in between riffs. A little psychological warfare could go a long way.

"Sophia! Come on your stronger and faster than this! Find Chan and kick his ass! I'll handle his thugs!"

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to lose control._

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to take control. Lose control. Lose control. Lose control._

As I left the song on a loop I made my way out of the office to wherever the hell I was gonna go next. We were already past the point of proper planning, so I figured I just wing this shit and prayed the both of us got lucky. But the downside of rushing into shit guns blazing was that could also happen to you. As I left the office I got a massive spray of automatic fire. I sprinted across the catwalk to the other side without stopping. I had to get back to ground level to find more solid cover. So I had to take a leap of faith, literally, and jumped over the side and hopped down the exposed stairs like a monkey grabbing branches as he descended from a tree. As I hit the floor I got hit with more fire and sought cover behind some machinery. After looking around on where to go next I saw a couple of large valves with large indicator dials, normally anything that was highlighted in red meant something bad was gonna happen if the dial didn't go down.

 _Time for another distraction._

I didn't know what pipes these were and I didn't care as long as it gave my enemies a headache and kept them away from Sophia. As I finished the last valve I got hit with more automatic fire again. I then sprinted to a concrete barrier marked with caution stripes. How the hell I wasn't hit I don't know but I saw who was shooting at me. A big Chinese guy that was barking some very angry tone on his radio, he must have been Low's replacement. I had to get back outside and find Sophia, which meant I had to go through him.

"You assholes fucked with the wrong team." I pulled out both my .45's and attacked.

 **1307 Hours**

 **Nearing the Office Complex**

 _Time, time, time to attack._

 _Time, time, time to attack._

 _Time, time, time to attack._

"I don't know how you're up and moving but thanks for covering my back Damien. The music though is a little over the top."

 _Time, time, time to attack._

 _Time, time, time to attack._

 _Time, time, time to attack._

After catching her breath Valmet did exactly what the lyrics of the song were saying, staying on constant attack. Chan's guards thought that it was inconceivable that one woman with knives was effortlessly carving through them without stopping. Since she didn't really know where she was going she just kept running. Knowing that she would eventually run out of his men to kill, Chan then prepared his custom bayonet pistols, Chinese copies of the CZ75, still smoking his cigar.

"Hmm, suoyi kan qilai wo shi zhengque di nage nanhai shi shui. Zai shijie shang, Koko Hekmatyar sheaf rang ta wei ta gongzuo shi chaochu wo de. Dan nage nuren sihu hen shuxi."

(Hmm, so it looks like I was right on who that boy was. How in the world Koko Hekmatyar managed to get _him_ to work for her is beyond me. But that woman did seem familiar.)

He then comfortably sighed while smiling, putting out his cigar.

"Zhuyao Sophia Velmer he Duizhang Damien Andrushko. Sihu you keneng wo hui shu."

(Major Sophia Velmer and Captain Damien Andrushko. It appears that there's the possibility that I will lose.)

 **1311 Hours**

 **Shipping Dock**

After shooting my way out of the smelting area I ended up in the loading docks. Chan's new body guard and his goons were right behind me. There were three semi-trailers parked with rolled steel waiting to be delivered. Two of them were running and had the doors open. It looked like when Sophia was starting her rampage they must have ran when the alarms went off. Speaking of things going off there were a couple of blasts coming from the smelting area. Looked like whatever pressure was building up gave way. But only enough for smoke to come out of the building and not level it.

Suddenly I heard rushing footsteps and one was behind me, I dispatched him quickly but the rest appeared behind him and opened fire. I then took cover behind the front of the rig. I then realized that I could probably take them all out in one flash, a hot one to be more specific. Diesel may not have been as flammable as gasoline but if you had a pretty good combustor you could get this stuff burning rather quick, say for example a hand grenade. I then pulled out my knife and stabbed the bottom of the tank to let the fuel loose. Then after seeing that it was clear made my way to the next trailer. As I got to the last trailer I punctured the last one but was immediately hit with a spray of bullets. Returning fire with my MP7 one handed I made for the end of the truck, I sheathed my knife and pulled out a grenade. Chan's new replacement really wanted me dead. It was then that I heard more fire in the distance, I noticed a separate building fenced off from the shipping dock that was not connected to the rest of the mill. For a brief moment I saw a figure slash two guards and dart inside.

 _Found her. Time to move._

Knowing I was going to be seen and shot at I sprinted back to the side entrance of the shipping dock and threw the grenade down under the center truck. I avoided the bullets and the blast erupted. While small the fire that started after that spread quickly two the other two trucks. With no place for the pressure to escape, the tanks on the other two blew and fire spread everywhere and Chan's guards were caught in it. Ignoring the screams of men on fire I followed the trail of bodies Sophia left behind into the office building.

 **1316 Hours**

 **Office Complex Top Floor**

 _Time to rock and roll._

 _Time to take control._

 _Lose control. Lose control. Lose Control._

 _Lose control. Lose control. Lose Control._

She was in the home stretch, nothing could stop her now.

 _Faster! Faster! This is for my men! I hear all of you!_

Pretty much the last of Chan's guard was down. Valmet was at full speed dashing to the room that was most protected. Her prize was behind a simple marked door. She kicked it open with such force the whole thing flew off its hinges.

"THEY'RE SCREAMING "THANK YOU MAJOR!""

"Heh. Sorry but you do realize dead men don't talk." Chan was still in his seat, relaxed and unmoving.

"These do, they're my men, their souls alive and well in me. Guoming Chan your life is mine."

"Very brave move to start rampaging on Chinese soil and try to kill a General of the PLA. Major Velmer, formally of the FRDP? You've aged quite a bit."

"Funny coming from your wrinkled old ass. Funnier still that you remember me."

"Well I can't remember every person I've killed in my career. But you're an exception to one that didn't kill."

 **Second Floor**

Sophia was definitely cleaning house. I had made my way past eleven corpses now, walls littered with bullet holes and blood. There was still one more threat lurking around here, but I wasn't going to rob Sophia of her revenge. As I made my way to the steps that lead to the top floor I opened the door and was greeted by a blast of automatic fire, I got into cover away from the fatal funnel and blind fired my MP7. But I then felt a force on my arm bending in back and I dropped the PDW in pain. I landed a hook on the assailant sending him back but when I pulled out my shotgun he knocked it out of my hand with an incredibly fast roundhouse. It was then followed up with a fast series of strikes and kicks, I was doing my best to block and return blows but I should have expected that at least one of these assholes knew kung-fu. I finally manage to get a hold of him and slam him against a wall. After a quick realization that a portion of his scalp and right ear was badly burned and how much larger he was as the rest of the security, Low's replacement was probably all that was left. I kept my forearm pressed against his neck and delivered a few firm knees to his gut. But he smacked my arm down with both his arms and landed a hook. I managed to block his follow up and land another blow in his sternum and a straight to his nose. But his recovery was ridiculously fast, a straight up high kick caught me in the jaw and came back down on my forehead sending me backwards. But what surprised me next was that he didn't continue his assault. He just stood there like he wanted to make this personal, unfortunately for him I wasn't really a fan of fighting fair. But as soon as I reached for my pistols on my sides, my heart stopped, they weren't there. I then heard two metallic slides in front of me, he threw them behind him, he could have killed me with my own guns and I wouldn't have even known it. It looked like I would have to play his game for now. I then unclipped my vest and threw it to the side.

 _For a big guy he moves pretty fast. But he's also wounded and extremely arrogant._

I sneered at him. "Sophia hit's a hell of a lot harder than you do shit eater."

He then spoke to me in English. "So you're the so called "Nightmare" that the General told me about. I'm not impressed."

I spat out blood from his kick. "I'm just getting started."

 **Top Floor**

"I actually do remember that day. Your reinforcements were almost there and I hadn't killed that unit's commander. I wondered where you were. Let me guess, you hid under one of the corpses of your own men."

Valmet then gripped her scar again, because she knew it was true.

"It never really surprised me on how much of a pathetic piece of shit you were. I trained myself day and night so that one day I could kill you. But more often than not, I found my fighting style to be exactly like yours, like some sort of twisted irony."

She then held both her blades in a defensive stance. "Get on your feet General! I will take from you what you took form me! EVERYTHING!"

"Let's not get melodramatic, and I think you might want to consider what you just said. That I took everything from you? That means you had to have gotten desperate at one point since you had nothing to begin with you had to take anything you could. You must have been weaker than you thought, you must have been willing to make whatever sacrifice that was necessary for revenge if you had to rely on _him_ in order to finally get to me."

She then looked at him puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid Major, think! Why did I not even bother chasing after Hekmatyar when you massacred Karen Low's unit in South Africa? It's because I found out not long after that on who that young man was, or if he's even a man at all."

"Damien?" She said blinking several times and relaxing her stance.

"If that's what you call "The Nightmare" then yes. A madman who on his very first combat deployment slaughtered his unit and an entire base and then travels the world as a mercenary doing almost anything for money. He also has a habit of doing whatever he _thinks_ is right and fires just seem to start burning really hot in wherever he's at. It will be just a matter of time before he does the same thing to your boss, HCLI, and you. It's a matter of when not if."

 **Second Floor**

He wasn't just fast he was also agile as well. He landed a high kick in my left temple and managed to stay out of my long reach but he didn't seem to know that I relied on far more than just brute strength. He came at me with a straight but I closed the distance by sliding along his arm and landing an elbow in his burned ear. Taking advantage of his pain I grabbed his striking arm and threw him over my shoulder. I finished up with a down strike stomp but he rolled out of the way. He then attempted a leg sweep on the ground but I jumped back out of the way. He got back up and attempted another forward spin kick but I caught his leg and moved forward by grabbing his face and pushing forward while sweeping his leg. I then fell on top of him and delivered two solid punches before placed my arm in a lock and delivered a kick to the back of my head while he was on the ground. He then attempted to place me in an arm lock hoping to break it, but I then remembered when I fought Sophia on the hotel roof and didn't let him finish getting in position. Now was the time to use my brute strength, I kept a firm grip on the man and grabbed his legs as tried to get the grapple in. With a fearsome shout I picked him up off the ground and threw us both through a door into a meeting room. I got up first, standing dominantly over a man who not more than ten seconds ago was not impressed. Now he didn't look like he knew what to do.

 _Game over asshole._

 **Top Floor**

"Judging from the commotion downstairs he's living up to his expectations. I'm really surprised at you Major, you were so desperate for revenge you trusted a monster? You're even weaker than you were all those years ago."

Valmet then growled and tightened her defensive stance.

"Damien has nothing to do with the two of us! And whatever you've heard about him is wrong! He told me EVERYTHING about what happened to him, he's not that same man. He stuck with me when I forced him to leave, he was the one who tracked you down, he also saved my life so that I could get to you! I owe him for allowing me to reach my goal."

"Do you even hear yourself? Look outside…you may only wanted to come here and kill me but he decided to start setting the whole mill on fire and kill whoever you missed. He craves carnage and enjoys it. Don't believe me? Then what's with that music that's blaring. This is just nothing more than another way to prove he believes war is enjoyable. Why are you defending…"

He then realized something seemed so obvious and then smiled arrogantly.

"Now what?" She said with annoyed frustration.

"I don't believe this, you're infatuated with him aren't you?"

She held her stance seemingly unfazed by his remarks of trying to get into her head.

"Hmpf. I knew it, you find his methods of destruction and killing fascinating. He's everything you thrive to be and more. I wonder what killing him would do to you."

Sweat was rolling down her face but her composure remained the same no matter what Chan said. She had already come too far to let him break her. She then thought what Damien would have said in a time like this.

"I don't got time for this shit!"

She charged at Chan before he could even blink but he caught her blade on his bayonets. Despite his age and injury his skill hadn't deteriorated in the least as he stopped Valmet's strike dead in its tracks.

"That's the spirit Major! Prove to me that you are worse than me and him! You know I should thank you! I haven't been in a fight for a long time, it's exquisite! Don't let my injury fool you! I DON'T NEED TWO GOOD LEGS TO KILL YOU!"

He forced her back and fired the first shot. Remembering her duel with Low she dodged the shot and moved in with a combination of strikes but Chan was actually holding his ground and seemed to be ignoring the pain from his leg. Each strike Valmet was throwing had more and more aggression. And behind each strike was for her dead comrades.

 **Second Floor**

I shouldn't have turned my back on Low's replacement when I heard that shot. That full on spinning back kick actually sent me flying into a filing cabinet. With my back landing directly on the corner I didn't necessarily get up right away. But at least this asshole was still just as arrogant.

"Pathetic. This is the Green Beret that's on the American's terrorist watch list? What a fool."

He then tried to kick me in the temple again but I had him right where I needed him. I blocked the kick with my arm and lunged forward striking him in the groin. He then let out a painful scream and stumbled back clutching his balls.

 _Bang! Bang!_

 _Bang!_

The three shots were in a slow method of fire. Sophia was still holding out against Chan, I had to end this fight now. So I decided to throw him off his game with a little of my own confidence, or cockiness depending on how you saw it, and as well as a little bit of honesty.

"Yes dick brain this is him, and he fucking hates himself for doing it. But I finally found a place to call home and a family that will help me get rid of this demon that's inside me. I will never escape my past, but I'll be damned if I let someone I care about come this far to fail."

I stood up focused and clear minded now. If he wanted a fight I'd give him one. Every time I got this close I always made sure I got back to my weapon, I never fought fair. But in this case I'd make an exception I wanted to find out how long he really could last. I had one more trick up my sleeve that I don't think he realized I had. He then got into his defensive stance and I did as well.

"I'll admit something else about myself too. I _am_ stupid. Stupid for believing that the Major would die that easily!"

 **Top Floor**

Strike for strike, parry for parry both fighters were holding their ground. Valmet was able to avoid Chan's shots but his defense was incredibly solid. Valmet missed a slash and Chan struck her forearm like a hammer. Reeling back from the pain Chan fired another shot but missed.

"Come on Major! You can't be at your best if a crippled man is fending you off!"

Valmet rushed in with a series of combos and a spin kick but Chan slashed the kick at her knee. Seizing the moment Chan darted forward using his good leg to deliver a fatal slash but Valmet predicted move and got out of his reach and landed a slash at his shoulder. She then took her first blade and tried to hammer it into his head but he caught it with his pistol. She then followed up with a hook but Chan caught it with his other sidearm. Knowing that he still had ammo he could just shoot her and that would be it. It was then she realized that he kept his good leg out in front constantly. Both their moves mirrored each other and he knew that she would want to take advantage of his bum leg. She just needed to break his defense for one strike, then she remembered something.

 _I did learn a few things by fighting a big idiot._

She rushed forward again with a hook and another hammer strike. Chan expressed a look of annoyed frustration as he blocked the strikes.

"Same attack!? You have anything-AUGH!"

Her answer was a head butt to his face breaking his nose. Valmet had her opening.

 **Second Floor**

My step kick hit him so had it sent him flying back into the hallway, his moves were becoming repetitive. As he stood back up I delivered with a series of rolling punches. I had to get him back to the stairs. I then hit him with a four combination hook and elbow strike, the backhand sent him stumbling back and falling over. He was running out of steam, and this was getting boring. I stalked him like a predator, I didn't realize it at the time but I then used a term that signified where I was from. I never had the accent since I moved around so much but it was appropriate for this moment. I was a Georgia boy after all.

"Y'all don't seem to understand. That she hit's a helluva lot harder."

He then started scrambling for one of my .45's that he tossed to the side. Only now he realized that he set himself up to be killed. He managed to grab it but I stomped down on his wrist so hard it broke and he let out a painful howl. I then let gravity take over and landed a knee on his back to keep him pinned. I then pulled out my explosive trick, my other grenade, I pulled the pin but kept my fingers on the spoon. Using my free hand I brought him up by his collar but he tried to land a blow to my ribs with his good arm but I looped under it and held it with my elbow. He froze when he saw what was in front of his face.

"And we're both unpredictable."

I let the spoon fly and landed an upper cut with my free arm. I then shoved the frag in his pants and prepared to throw everything I had into it.

 **Top Floor/Second Floor**

Two warriors from the opposite sides of the world. Both were born from nations that were once under the rule of the most powerful empires in the world. Within both nations was conflict so that they both fought so that they could continue to exist. They both fought against the powers that ruled over them to be free. Within two specific wars in their time lines a cry for battle was born. One during a war of how one worshiped God by cutting them apart. The other was a war between brothers with an eagle like shrill of rage.

"HAKKAA PALLE!/YEEEEAAAOOW!"

Seizing the moment she lunged forward and thrust both blades into the neck of Guoming Chan. Then with a violent pull ripped both blades to the sides ripping his neck apart and blood sprayed everywhere. Chan then fell to both his knees facing Valmet, a spray of blood covered her piercing gaze of triumph. As his body fell to the floor, Valmet stood up walk towards his desk and planted her combat knife in it. A sign to whoever came across it to know who killed their General.

With tremendous force Damien delivered a spinning back kick so hard it knocked Lee down the flight of stairs without even hitting one until he landed on the divider that lead to the next floor. What followed next was a sickening fleshy sounding explosion with gore flying all throughout the stairwell. Cold and emotionless from his latest kill he quickly collected his weapons and gear and headed for the top floor. Not caring that he stepped on a piece of what was left of Lee.

As Damien got to the top floor he turned a corner and immediately ran into Valmet both were surprised at the states that they were in. They then approached each other.

"You don't really look good in red." He indicated the blood still on Valmet's face. She tried to wipe it off but it smeared instead.

"How long were you asleep? You've got a serious case of bed head." Damien realized his long hair felt like a tangled mop. He forgot to put it in ponytail.

Both however were glad to see that they were both alive and smiled while they embraced each other in a tight hug. After what was done was done Damien separated themselves.

"We'll celebrate later. Right now we gotta get out of here. Where's the truck?"

"I parked it in an alleyway inside the town, follow me."

As she went for the stairway Damien grabbed her hand.

"Wait! Let's find another way out of this building I don't think you wanna go down _those_ stairs."

"Does this have anything to do with that blast I heard a few seconds ago?"

"Uhh…yeah."

"Well then give me my hand back Captain and we'll go the way I came in."

He looked down and he was still holding her hand. He let go gently.

"Lead on, Major."


	24. Chapter 23

**Authors Note:** I wanted to say that it's been awesome making this, it's been a fun hobby and I'm gonna keep doing it. But the updates are going to be much slower now, cause if ya'll know me then you should know I'm not done wearing the uniform yet. I must now prepare for the ultimate test, and that's all I can say.

It's good timing that this has happened though, cause this concludes Act 1.

 **Chapter 23: The Connection**

 **August 6** **th** **2010 1331 Hours**

 **Sali, Ethiopia**

The day was rather hot for Karen Low, she was unable to finish her nap. Even with the simple hotel room she was staying in, the air conditioning wasn't helping much. She wanted to relieve some stress after getting fired from her position as her General's personal guard. Even in the disgrace of her failing her mission she still wanted to prove herself to her mentor. HCLI had humiliated them on multiple occasions, she wouldn't let there be another one. Knowing that sleeping didn't relieve the stress she sat up and wiped the sweat off her face with her shirt. As she looked outside the window the streets below looked busier than usual. A few years ago this town was merely a village with only the basic necessities. Now because of the steel mill her homeland had built for the natural resources and minerals they were digging up, it had turned it into a moderately sized town with paved roads, street lamps, sturdier buildings, and even a park where the mill workers families would congregate. Just then her cell phone began to ring, she answered not really caring.

"Shi de, shi shenme?"

(Yes, what is it?)

…

"SHENME!? Zhe shi shenme shihou fasheng de!?"

(What!? When did this happen!?)

…

"Ni huale hen chang shijian rang wo zhidao ma? Ta ma de wo zai wo de lushang!"

(And it took you this long to tell me? Fuck it I'm on my way!)

The mill where her General was at was under attack close to half an hour ago and she was furious. After quickly getting dressed she grabbed her pistol and keys and bolted downstairs to her car. As she then speeded towards the mill, she then noticed several fire trucks heading in the same direction. Even worrying still that there were also several of her fellow PLA members dressed in body armor patrolling the streets and telling the town's citizens to stay indoors.

Upon reaching the plant her eyes widened in awe and disbelief, portions of it were on fire. As she then exited her car she was halted by two PLA members.

"Low Zhongwei. Wo hen baoqian ni buneng jinqu zhidao women queding mo fang shi anquan de."

(Lieutenant Low. I'm sorry you can't go in until we're sure the mill is secure.)

"Zhe shi yi jian junshi shijian wo shi ni de shangsi. Zouchu wo de lu."

(This is a military matter and I am your superior. Get out of my way.)

She shoved past the guards and ran further into the mill. Shell casings, bullet holes, and corpses with multiple stab and slash wounds were the ones she passed by first. Eventually she got to the smelting area, fire trucks were already on scene putting out the fire. She got the attention of one of the fire fighters.

"Zheli fashengle shenme?"

(What happened here?)

"Youren cong luzi li mifeng pai qi yali bingqie chui chulai. Zhengge matou yeshi huo de."

(Someone sealed off the exhaust pressure from the furnace and it blew. The whole dock is on fire too.)

She then realized that that was near her General's office. As she then ran toward the area she came across more bodies but these ones didn't have any wounds that indicated that they were cut. She then noticed one of the shell casings on the ground. They looked like smaller rifle rounds at first but upon closer inspection she realized that they came from a personal defense weapon and no one on the security team had one of those. There were also 12 gauge shotgun shells too, they didn't have those either. Who had raided their mill?

She then finally arrived at her General's office building, the guard out front let her pass but she then notice he had a look that she didn't want to see what was inside. She passed more bodies with stab and slash wounds, the sickeningly sweet smell of blood and gore filled the entire building. She then started running, gaining even more speed as she ran to his office shoving aside men trying to clean up the carnage. She then arrived at his office, and her worst fears came to life. His throat was completely ripped open and was completely pale as most of his blood was all over the carpet and his desk. Unable to handle the shock she threw up in the hallway. As one of the guards came to see if she was alright she swatted him away. On his desk, was a familiar looking blade stabbed into in, covered in crimson. She then knew immediately who was responsible, she would kill them. She turned to the guard who tried to help her.

"Tamen buneng zou de tai yuan. Wo yao hui dao zhen shang. Kaishi sousou."

(They couldn't have gone far. I'm heading back to town. Start a search.)

 **1340 Hours**

We were lucky so far. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to do this a little bit more quietly cause we then could have gotten away quicker. We kept to the alley's and Sophia mentioned that we were getting closer to the truck, but the patrols were starting to get a little heavier. As we hunkered down near a dumpster, Sophia was keeping an eye on the patrol that was running past us. She then peeked out into the street.

"Ok clear, let's go."

I followed her across the street quickly. We were almost at the outskirts of town, we were almost in the clear. I then noticed that while she was moving normally she looked like she was hurting when she stepped with her right leg. There was blood on her torn pants.

"That cut deep?"

"Nah I'm ok. Just around this block, not much further I promise."

Promises. Like the way she promised not to do anymore fights to the death? Granted this situation was a little different she still made that promise after we were done with Dr. Miami in South Africa. I'm not gonna let her go off and try to get killed again, she was too important to Koko, the crew, and me. But then again she was superior to me in every way possible. I think that's what I like about her the most, no matter what gets thrown in her way, physical or emotional, she plows right through it. She still maintained her sense of self even though she's technically a criminal. But even though she can push herself farther and faster than I ever could, I don't think she kept this thought in her head like I often did.

 _I am only human._

We finally reached the truck, parked next to a storage shed in an alley with enough room for a car to maneuver through and park. But before we could start it we heard vehicles coming in our direction and we hid behind the engine block. She was keeping an eye on them to see if we were clear. I was looking her over, she was as bashed up as I was, covered in blood in which was both hers and others, and sweating profusely.

"If you ever do something like this again I will spank your well-toned ass six ways to Sunday missy."

She then turned around slowly and looked at me rather angry. "Excuse me?"

"There ain't no excuse for me caring about you. You can stare at me with that scowl all day but it won't change the fact that your more than my friend, you're family. And it would break the hearts of everyone on the team."

She knew I was right, and acknowledged a smile asking for forgiveness.

"Are we clear?"

"Yeah, you'll be the first one I ask when I want to go on another rouge adventure."

I chuckled. "I meant are the streets clear?"

"Oops." She poked head up again. "Clear."

"Ok you start the truck and I'll keep a look out just to be sure. Moment you turn over the engine we bolt it south, we'll then plan what to do next. Sound good sweetheart?"

"Fine. And don't call me sweetheart."

I got up and moved towards the building corner. "Really? I recall someone drugging me and then calling me "handsome" followed up by a rather lengthy kiss on the cheek. You've got a hell of a way of telling a guy you like him."

Her expression then became frozen with fear and embarrassment, she must have not realized that I was fully unconscious. She was blushing so hard it was comical and her mouth was open in such a way that she could make out the words to express what she really wanted to say.

"Relax I'm just fucking with you." I chuckled. "Now start the truck. Let's go back to Koko and get our asses whooped."

She then got in the truck giving me her annoyed look, but with a smile this time.

 _ **Bang!**_

It hit like an out of body experience. Like you didn't know what in the actual hell just happened. As time then began to slow it was becoming uncomfortable to breathe and I felt a warm liquid running down my stomach. I then took my hand and placed it where it happened, right at the bottom of the sternum just under the rib cage center mass, blood. I then looked up and saw on the opposite side of the street was a woman, a woman I had not seen for some time now, Karen Low. I wondered how she found us, but that didn't matter, all that did was making sure Sophia got away. It looked like I managed to only let one person not become me, and I was fine with that.

As I fell to my knees another shot rang out but I didn't feel an impact the second time, I turned to her.

"Sophia, run." I said calmly as if everything was alright.

She looked like she was absolutely terrified. She then sprinted to me, slid in front of me and kneeled in front of me as if she was about to pray and pulled me close to her chest and her arms wrapped around me tightly.

 _ **Bang! Bang!**_

 _ **Bang!**_

 _ **Bang!**_

The shots were being fired in slow moderation, Sophia's reaction was only to some of them but she was feeling the pain with each hit. Despite all that she kept her grip on me and didn't let go. As I then looked up to her, she was crying. It was a hauntingly familiar image, and once again the memories of that horrible night came back.

 _No. No! NO! NO! NO NOT AGAIN!_

She didn't let go, not once, instead her weight fell on top of me. I myself too weak and frightened to hold onto her. As Low fired off her last two shots, missing us entirely, she started screaming which what appeared to be no one in particular.

"WO TAOYAN ZHEGE SHIJIE! TA MA DE NI!"

(I HATE THIS WORLD! FUCK YOU!)

In that brief moment, time then returned to normal. I then remembered there was one thing that I cared not to use often because of the consequences that followed, that it got me out of any situation, my rage. I made a promise to her to support her once we were done and Low had ruined it. She also made her cry. All I needed to do was to focus on one thing, to kill. As she was staring up into the sky screaming I pulled out my .45 and emptied the clip into her. I didn't know if my shot's truly made their mark but she fell backward and started bleeding out on the sidewalk. I then notice that Sophia's breathing was shallow, she was still alive.

"Oh God! Oh God NO! Sophia! Come on talk to me! SHIT!"

Taking advantage of the adrenaline I carried her and placed her gently in the back of the Land Rover. I didn't have time to preform first aid since those shots were going to draw attention, I needed to get away from the town first. I then got in the front seat and tore through my bag to get my sat-phone and a bandage. The keys were still in the ignition so I punched it and speeded out of the alley and shot off into the plains not caring if I was on the road or not. I was wincing from the pain in my sternum each time I breathed. There was only one number I needed to call, she had a talent for making the impossible happen. I just hoped she could make it work a little faster.

"Urgh! FUCK! Come on, come on pick up!"

" _Yes it's Koko what do you-"_

"Koko! It's Damien! Listen I need you to-"

" _Where the hell-!"_

She interrupted before I could finish but I then snapped back with a little more aggression, my friends life was at stake. I didn't care about my own.

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN! SOPHIA'S BEEN SHOT! Work your magic and send a medevac chopper to my location, they can lock on to my coordinates on my sat-phone!"

" _What happened!?"_

"I'll explain everything later! She's dying Koko! Can you get me a bird out of here or not!?"

There was a slight pause. " _Where are you at so I can make some calls?"_

"I'm currently about two miles heading south away from a town called Sali in Ethiopia. Wounds are multiple gunshots, I don't think we're being followed."

" _I think I can get a search and rescue your way. We're still in Egypt right now. Keep me posted."_

"Just make sure the rescue guys aren't Chinese. I'll call you later."

I hung up and then gripped my wound. The pain was getting worse but I had to get far enough away to treat Sophia.

 **1419 Hours**

 **The Ethiopian Wilderness**

We managed to get far enough away that I managed to perform first aid on Sophia without looking over my shoulder. After making quick work on myself wrapping a gauze and bandage around myself, I then tended to her wounds. Her breathing was getting more shallow and her pulse was weak. Taking my knife I cut off her blood soaked shirt to see where the bullets had hit. Low must have not cared if she was aiming properly or not since she appeared to be hit only four times out of the eleven shot's she fired. Two on the right side of her back, one on the left just above the pelvis, and the last one that had shot through the right wing on her tattoo. That meant she had to have had a lung punctured. After carefully searching to see if there were any exit wounds I gently brought her up and laid her body on the back truck seat so I could bandage and seal the bullet wounds easier. She then started to wheeze, her lung was collapsing. I then grabbed the breathing needle and gently laid her on her back and pulled her shirt down to feel for the ribs. I drove the needle home and the tube was in place, her breathing then started to return to normal but I also that there was blood in her mouth, she had to have internal injuries too. As did I, as the injury to my chest started causing me to cough up blood.

 _Shit! Come on just a little bit longer._

I then placed her on her side to prevent her from choking on her blood and got back in the front seat. Going through the rest of the medical supplies I pulled out a morphine dose. It was best to slow the bleeding as much as possible. So I took off my shirt and wrapped another bandage and gauze around my chest. The morphine kicked in almost immediately, I didn't really realize at the time I was also going to be driving under the influence. As I kept heading south I got a ring on my sat-phone.

"Koko?"

" _No this White Dove 002 is this Damien?"_ Said the African sounding voice on the other side.

"Yes it's me! Where the hell are you guys!?" The morphine was canceling out the pain but not my stamina.

" _We have a lock on your GPS. Continue on your course and you will see us. What's the status of the patient?"_

"Status is…URGH! Unconscious, four gunshot wounds to the back, internal injuries, and a lung collapsed. COUGH!"

I then spat up more blood and my vision was starting to fade. I then had problems trying to control the truck.

" _Is everything ok!?"_

I didn't answer as I dropped the phone and planted my face on the steering wheel causing the horn to blare. The truck then turned to the right and stopped in a small ditch. The pilot on the phone was still trying to get a hold of me.

" _Hello? Hello Damien!? I say again this is White Dove 002 come in Damien!"_

I was too weak to respond and I laid down on the passenger seat unable to move. As my vision slowly faded to black my last glimpse was of the bright African sun. I had failed to save her.

"So…phia."

 **Date Unknown 0013 Hours**

 **Location Unknown**

That was all I knew judging from the clock on the wall in the room that clearly signified that I was in a hospital. My vision was extremely blurry but I could tell the room was empty and filled with only the sounds were the air conditioning and beeps from the heart monitor that I was hooked up to. As I sat up I grabbed my sternum reacting to the pain, I then noticed under my medical scrubs I was wearing a rather large gauze pad. I then immediately realized I was alone, where was she? I then removed the IV drip from my right arm and tore off the heart monitor pads and stumbled out of bed to the door that led to a dim hallway. I stumbled around, pain killers still in full effect, trying to figure out where the hell I was going. I then saw two figures running toward me, as they got closer to where my sight was better I saw that it was a doctor and a nurse. I did just rip off my heart monitor.

"Where is she?" I asked not caring if he spoke English or not.

"Please sir you must-AAHHH!" I grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up against a wall planting his head in the ceiling.

"WHERE IS SHE!?" I demanded in a growling shout.

"T-t-two rooms down! That way 507!" He answered absolutely terrified and I dropped him to the floor.

I then made a stumbling run to the room and then I saw what I needed to see. I was never more relieved. I grabbed one of the chairs and sat down next to her and took her hand gently.

"Sophia? Come on Sophia wake up. I'm right here talk to me."

I then heard multiple footsteps at the door, the doctor was back but this time with guards in tow.

"Sir please, let her rest. We don't know if she'll regain consciousness or not but your still gravely injured."

I was unable to keep my bearings straight as I stood up and got into my "don't fuck with me" pose.

"I'm not going anywhere, leave." My vision was getting cloudy but still held firm.

"I'm sorry sir but if you don't leave then we will-"

"Let him stay." A familiar voice of a young woman spoke as he looked around him.

"Miss Hekmatyar I understand but-"

"Just move his bed here and I'll make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble."

Unable to keep my stance anymore, my vision faded to black and the last thing I remembered was the floor.

…

Daylight. As I gently opened by eyes I heard the sounds of a radio with an African language on it, it must have been the news. I then heard the beeps of a heart monitor, but I was not hooked up to one except my re-administered IV. But I felt a little better this time, there wasn't as many drugs in my system but it didn't change how I felt as I sat back up from my bed.

"Urgh…Christ! I feel like hammered shit."

"And the both of you look it too."

Koko. Very plainly dressed as compared to her usual garb of business dress. She must have flown out to wherever we were at rather quickly. Looking at me as if I didn't just ditched the team to go after Sophia for over a week. Speaking of her she was in her bed right next to me, knowing what was coming next I merely acknowledged the fact that Koko was there and got out of bed. I grabbed my IV and then sat next to Sophia, Koko brought her chair around too and sat next to me.

"Are you even going to say anything?"

I didn't really have an excuse or right to after just plain ditching her and the crew. It was best I just answered honestly.

"I wouldn't have done something this reckless if I didn't have a good reason. Yell at me all you want and if you wanna fire me do it, as long as she's alright."

I just remembered that that was one of the last things I ever said to my father, déjà vu. But even with all this drama she still held on to her innocence and care for me. As I heard her let out a soft laugh.

"You two must have gotten quite close in the last week. I hope it was worth it considering the aftermath the two of you left in your wake. But I'll explain that after she wakes up."

She then leaned over to me and gave me another one of her hugs, very subtly squeezing on where I was shot.

"And I'm so glad that the both of you are safe."

She was definitely angry. But she did say that last part with meaning.

"What day is it anyway Koko?" I said breathing sharply.

 **August 10** **th** **2010 1800 Hours**

 **Addis Ababa, Ethiopia**

It had been another day since I woke up and when not in bed or walking around to stay active I sat by Sophia. I told Koko that she could do her yelling at both of us once she was awake. I was gonna catch some extra flak for that later but I didn't care. It felt strange, but it the first time in a while I managed to catch a full nap and not feel horrible when I woke up. I felt a shaking on my head, the first thing I saw was that the sun was starting to go down, but then I looked over and saw her awake. I popped my head up but before I could speak she was looking in the direction behind me as if she was just caught stealing money from her dad's wallet. Koko was staring at us both smiling in her carefree look, normally it was when people were at their most calm was that they were at their most angry. Knowing that there was nothing I do to get us out of this I just let my mouth do the talking.

"Welp, we're boned."

"That's putting it mildly. OW!"

She then hunched over from the pain. She did get shot more than I did as Koko explained.

"You both got hit with Damien's favorite bullet. Forty five caliber slugs can do a hell of a lot of damage but he managed to patch you up pretty well."

"I did do good didn't I." I said looking back to Sophia, but then Koko killed my moment of dominance.

"While you just decided to act like a cocky idiot and tried to power though blood loss causing you to crash your truck."

 _Damn, forgot about that._

She then was looking at Sophia's hair on how much shorter it was.

"Interesting hair cut you got. To be honest you should have gone the whole way and kept it short like the old days."

The both of us knew she was beyond furious. It was best to just get it over with and then get back to the _Fruition_ as fast as possible. Sophia went first.

"Koko listen to me I'm sorry, but aren't you mad?" She said hesitantly.

"Of course I am, can't you tell?"

Sophia answered with a nervous laugh and I began to cringe. It was insane that I had literally stared death in the face multiple times and didn't blink. But a mere five foot five, thin, and ghost like woman was making the hair on my neck stand up.

"FOR STARTERS LOOK AT THIS!"

She held up her smart phone indicating a news article. Claiming that an unknown terrorist group commenced a raid at a steel mill in Ethiopia with also over 40 confirmed members of the PLA dead. I immediately realized how badly the two of us just screwed up.

"That mill was Chinese state property! The Tashinhai Trading Company was an official company on the books but Chan was still a General of the Chinese army. You both are lucky that no one got a good look at you two. Do you have any idea what you two just did!?"

 _Oh fucking terrific. Now I'm wanted by BOTH the world's top militaries!_

Knowing that Sophia was a little confused I answered for her.

"We both…just…made ourselves wanted terrorists for the Chinese." I said looking at Sophia highly embarrassed.

The realization kicked in and she shut her eye hard and Koko continued her rant while grabbing her hair and pulling it.

"AAAAHHH! This is gonna cost us so much! Hush money for the doctors! Even more hush money to hide the fact that Damien was here! Rerouting search and rescue choppers with false orders! And if that's bad enough I had to personally pay for both your surgeries too."

Her freak outs had some comical moments but this wasn't one of them. I had a feeling it was going to be tight next couple of months. But she then calmed down.

"But mostly I'm just mad about the money. This little incident has caused us to reach a whole other level of evil. You two performing a terrorist action and me aiding and abetting them."

Sophia then looked to me, this no doubt in my mind was very familiar too.

"Is this any different from when you ran from Anvil?"

"Well the lyrics are different but the sound is still the same. Yes."

Koko then looked at us both surprised. "So you know now as well?"

"Anvil, Team Iron, Khandan, everything." She answered.

Knowing that that was that she simply acknowledged that Sophia knew those facts and then smiled.

"Well then Major Velmer and Captain Andrushko, I'm of one mind on this. You Major, made sure that those men are now resting peacefully and that you didn't fail any of them. And you Captain, you told me that you wanted a chance at redemption, you just took a big step in doing that. You risked everything to make sure that my sister came back alive. You both have my admiration and I hope that you both don't mind hearing that from someone like me."

There were a lot of nasty things in war, but not all of it was blood and fire. One was the fact that you waded through it with death's hand ready to grab you at the moment's notice and snatch you up, but he didn't. He let you pass because you were doing something far more noble than combat, you went to save the lives of others. Another was that when you delivered your vengeance against those who truly deserve it, death would always allow the better warrior to win.

"Meh. We don't mind." I then put my arm over Sophia's shoulder. "Sophia and I like kicking ass. We just complement each other on how much ass needs to be kicked."

She then looked over at me and smiled. "He's right, we do."

Koko then raised her eyebrow. " _Sophia?_ Valmet why is Damien calling you by your first name? And why are you letting him get that close?"

She then realized that both of our faces were touching and she shoved me off, but it didn't come without reaction from the injuries on her back.

"It's…it's not like that! He said that I'm not just a weapon! We work very well together! And he stuck with me even after I kept telling him to go home! He's just—"

"Someone you like?"

As Koko cut her off the heartbeat monitor then started to increase. Sophia must have been embarrassed that she was starting to admit something without thinking it through. Koko then walked over to my right and grabbed my arm.

"Believe me I can understand but I already told him that he belongs to me. You can't have him Valmet."

 _Oh God this seriously can't be happening._

So much for thinking before speaking, so I figure I'd just let my mouth do the running from here on out. I gently took my arm back from Koko.

"Sorry Koko but she made the first move, she kissed me first." I then looked toward her slowly and realized I remembered something. "After you decided to drug me! The fuck did you use anyway!?"

She then stared at me in anger. "Urgh. I didn't want you following me."

"Piss poor excuse and you're not answering my question."

"Does it matter!?"

"Yes it fucking matters! You could have caused me to OD!"

"Now I'm wishing it did."

"Then I wouldn't have saved your ass when those snipers had a bead on you."

"I was doing fine without you."

"I know you were."

Without hesitation I took the biggest life threatening risk I had probably ever taken with in my life. All that mattered was what happened at the end of it. I held her face close to mine, shut my eyes, and our lips connected. It was simple and direct and there was no resistance on the other side. A few seconds later I let her go, her face was totally blank. I finished our little argument, and hoped she came out of her blown mind.

"Because like I said, you're better than me. That's what I like about you."

I then heard Koko chuckle behind me. I turned around to see her cheeks puffed out and was about to burst but she then took a deep breath.

"It looks like I might have my work cut out for me, but you know I'm not the type to give up so easily Damien. Now if you'll excuse me I'll have to go pay the doctor's fee's, I'll come back later. And hope I won't have to pay more."

"What do you-" I then felt an extremely tight grip on my left hand. Sophia, or I should say Valmet at this point, was looking down with her eye shut as if she was in deep concentration. But her arm was flexed in a way in which she had no intention of letting go.

 _Oh shit._

"Just don't kill him Valmet."

She walked off and shut the door to our room. I just realized how badly I was screwed. I tried to get Valmet to let go but it felt like I was trying to remove stone fused to my arm. She then started to bring my arm up slowly. I tried to resist but I didn't know where the hell she was pulling off this strength. With ease in fact as the heart monitor she was hooked up to was beating normally. She then looked at me as if I was another target, I sort of figured this was gonna happen but I wouldn't hesitate to defend myself. Then almost as if instinct took in, we got into our arm lock position again.

"Ok Valmet I get it I'm-"

"That's Sophia to you. And if you want to apologize, then don't ever do that to me in front of Koko again."

I sighed painfully, I was kinda pushing all I had with my injured chest.

"Ok deal. But we are anything but even right now and I'll tell you why."

"Why?" She said calmly.

"You saved me. I owe you my life. Thank you." I said with all the sincere gratitude I could muster.

She then gently smiled, leaned closer towards me, and we kissed again. Our hands let go of our grip and slid down our arms and we wrapped around each other's shoulders. In the last few years my life had taken its fair share of extreme ups and downs. But in this one moment two hearts connected and I finally felt normal. The road to repair my damaged soul had begun with the warm embrace of, ironically, a deadly woman.

 **August 11** **th** **2010 1300 Hours**

 **Dembel City Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia**

After checking out of the hospital we had until evening till our flight's left for our different vacation spots. So we decided to do a little shopping, I kind of needed some fresh clothes, sneakers, and of course a new cell phone since once again I had left all my stuff on board the _Fruition,_ and had only taken what I needed in my bug out bag. Koko wanted to give us some time off and not just for me and Sophia's little escapade. Turned out someone hired a bunch of, from what Koko said, circus performers that tried to kill her. Their method of attack was trying to take out members of the team one at a time and they almost did. Not surprising that they failed, but definitely surprising on what Ugo did to the guy who tried to kill him with a pair of bolt cutters.

"You ran through a wall?" I said completely unbelieving.

"Beat him senseless too. And blasted the shit out of the car of the guy that tried to chase me and the boss to the emergency safe house."

"And as usual _your_ ass is a magnet for bullets."

"I only got cut not shot Damien."

The three of us were sitting in one of the nicer restaurants having a beer while the rest of the crew were walking around. Mike had actually bought a new Xbox 360, turns out he got real tuned in to Elder Scrolls and Battlefield. Karl was sporting off his new pair of Oakley sunglasses trying to look cool while chugging his beer. Consuming alcohol was not really a recommended thing to do after you had to have your stomach cut open to get a bullet out of you but I needed something to relieve the stress of the ridiculous week I had. Granted though, I felt glad that the outcome wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Regardless of the fact that Sophia and I were now probably wanted by the Chinese government.

"Still it's good to see that you guys are all alright. Cheers."

I held up my bottle and the three of us toasted.

"Saluti."

"Zum Wohl." His phone then buzzed. "I just got a text from Koko. Mall entrance. Time to go."

Lutz then took out his wallet, paid the bartender and we left with our bags. He then put his arm around me rather hard.

"Ok man I gotta know. How was your honeymoon? You get any? Were they soft or were they firm? Who was more dominant?"

He did have something that was a little higher in alcohol percentage than me and Ugo. There ain't no damn way he would be bold enough to ask questions like that sober. Plus if I told him I had to cut off Sophia's shirt, he would have blabbed and she would have killed me in my sleep.

"Nothing happened blondie so drop it. Anyway what are you guys gonna do once we jump on the planes?"

"I'm probably just gonna go back home to Germany for a while, hang out with all my old buddies from my unit."

"After that incident where I had to drive the boss away from that assassin I need to beef up my driving skills. I'll be at the HCLI drivers training course in England. What about you Damien?"

"No idea honestly. I was kinda hoping to just chill on the _Fruition_ for a while."

We then met up with the rest of the crew and Sophia approached me rather aggressively.

"You said you were gonna buy me a new set of boots! You're not off your punishment yet." She said pointing a finger at the non-injured part of my chest.

"Sorry I missed the text. Lutz made me come and drink with him."

She then looked over to him and grabbed him by the collar, he was completely caught off guard.

"Is that true?" She demanded.

"Hey hey! I just asked him if he wanted a beer and relax after the stressful week he's had!"

"Valmet calm down will you? Don't take your frustration out on him." I said.

She then looked at me neutrally and then let Lutz go.

"Alright, sorry Lutz."

The reaction of disbelief on Lutz's face was ridiculously comical. He couldn't believe I just got her to let him go and apologize to him.

"Alright, alright everyone calm down." Koko got the groups attention. "Once your all done with your vacations were gonna be meeting up in Papa New Guinea. It will take the _Fruition_ about two weeks to get there so until then you are on your own time. Except for you two."

She indicated me and Sophia.

"I'm not letting you two out of my sight for one second, I'm not having you two go rouge again. And you're not off the hook yet either Valmet, I need a mule to carry all the stuff I bought. So while everyone else is on their free time, you'll both be accompanying me on whatever HCLI tasks and work that I've hadn't had the chance to catch up on. Questions?"

Not really caring about my punishment I raised my hand, I needed to do one last thing before we left.

"Yes Damien?"

"Can I get one more picture of all of us together before we leave? I only have two and their not really great shots."

She saw that I subtly leaned my head towards Sophia. Koko knew what I wanted and put on her usual smile.

"Sure, but let's do it facing the street. It look a little weird if we just took one with the mall in the background."

As we exited, Koko went to an old man walking by to get him to take a picture of us with my camera. It was my turn to address the crew.

"I'm not real good at lengthy speeches so I'll just be bottom line up front. Thank you, all of you, for letting me into your lives." Everyone then stared at me slightly surprised that my voice turned soft for a moment. "Even with all the shit I've done in my life, you guys made me feel like I'm a part of something special. I love ya'll."

It was somber at first but then as expected the ribbing started.

"Cheese factor much?" William.

"Didn't peg you for a softie." Akihito.

"Where'd this come from?" Renato.

"Wow talk about lame." Mao.

"Yeah I thought you were the tough guy." Michael.

"I think you might have had too much to drink." Karl.

"Whatever." John.

"Still an idiot." Sophia

"Ok guys he's trying to be open so just let him speak. So you know what, bunch together close so that we make this one for him. Everyone smile big!"

"Kaaay." Our acknowledgement.

As everyone got around me, I felt a squeeze on my right hand. I didn't need to guess who it was, Sophia was smiling gently. I held her hand firm as well. I know that this world as well as life can be very cruel, I know that all too well. But I know it's not supposed to be fair and I'm ok with that. I am me and no one else, I'll carve my own path in my life. As of this moment I didn't care what the future held, I may have been still part of the criminal underworld but I will not forsake the ones that took me in. My new family.


	25. Chapter 24

**Author's Note:** It took a while to get set up and get back online but we're here and ready no matter what part of the world I'm in! We now begin Act 2 and this is where I'll make some major changes plot wise and fix a few things that I knew could have been better. For now it will be cool down and character introduction. As always keep the views, followings, and favourites climbing.

Quick side note; Damien's last name is pronounced "On-drew-shko".

 **Chapter 24: Life Goes On**

 **August 11** **th** **2010 0600 Hours**

 **Bull Run Estates, Virginia**

As his alarm clock went off in his house that was much further away from his neighbors he naturally took a few moments for him to crawl over to hit the snooze button before turning it off. Finishing up the last reports he had to hand to the Secretary of Defense didn't get done until after midnight. Being in the Army for two and a half decades, Marcus Andrushko never once hated a day on the job. But he never got used to the hours that he had to work whether he was in the field fighting or if he was sitting in headquarters making sure that the machine stayed maintained. That machine was the United States Special Operations Command, he had maintained it well but he couldn't do it forever.

 _God I don't know if I can handle these next five years._

Other than the occasional visits to his friends and family, life had become very repetitive unless he had to travel out of the country. Wake up, decided whether or not to exercise now or after work, eat, make the lengthy trip to the Pentagon, go home, do whatever he didn't get done for the day, sleep, and do the same thing the next day until it was Friday. He had a simple breakfast of oatmeal, apples, and coffee in a rather large kitchen with black granite counter tops and walnut colored wood. He never really used his dining room unless he had more than one guest. He got dressed in his fatigues, cleaned up, and collected his forms in his brief case in his rather ornate study. A cross between a library and a living room it was lined with books, family photos, deployment photos, awards, and memorabilia not only to himself but his father and his grandfather. His old oak desk was separated by a rug he got on a two week deployment to Kuwait next to a stone fireplace with two burgundy leather chairs next to it. It was there where he shared his first beer with his son which seemed like eons ago. He then stared at the only photo on his desk, it was the last one he had when all three of them were together. Before Lauren was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and long before Damien had disappeared. Her deep red hair, emerald green eyes, and gentle round face complemented her Irish heritage perfectly and his son was almost as tall as she was at only eight years old. While he was grinning ear to ear he had the same piercing blue stare his father had.

"I miss you both, so much."

 **0730 Hours**

 **Bethesda, Maryland**

Age not included, his old back injury that he suffered during his senior year in Annapolis wasn't going to stop him from being active. Even though he was no longer the same field agent he was when he graduated from The Farm, the nature of being the director of the European branch of the CIA was still a dangerous profession. As he ran around the neighborhood life carried on as normal here, despite the fact of their intelligence leak last month. He along with the other branch directors of the CIA had a full plate to deal with but it was insignificant compared to what he was overseeing. As he returned to his home he went to his garage he cleaned off the condensation from the sweat on his glasses and threw his sweaty shirt on the washing machine as usual and grabbed one of his barbells. He could smell the breakfast that Melonie was cooking while he heard Patricia shouting at Arnold to hurry up in the bathroom. He just then realized that the summer was almost over and she would be heading off to the University of North Carolina by next week.

After getting cleaned up he only had a few moments to eat and then he had to get to Langley. He had a plane that was taking off at noon and he had to be there early. Patricia was giving him the stink eye again, he almost never ate in peace when it was breakfast time.

"Dad do you think you can at least put your sweaty gym clothes in the washer first and not leave it laying around?" She complained as if it was the millionth time.

He grinned arrogantly. "You're still in this house so it's my job to make sure you're miserable."

Arnold then chuckled. "Burn."

"Mom!"

"Now, now, you two do this almost every morning. Now George at least clean up after yourself a little bit. It's going to be the last time she'll be around at least until Thanksgiving."

"Alright." He then grabbed his thermos full of coffee. "Ok I got to go. Love you all."

"Love you too dear." She said as she kissed her husband on the cheek.

 **0825 Hours**

 **The Pentagon, Washington DC**

There was only really one way to go to the Pentagon and it was on the interstate but it was always busy. Being a General though had its perks, no one really cared if you were late. The video conference he was about to have with Admiral Olsen wasn't until 0900 and he had time to say good morning to everyone. He also had to give his morning brief to his subordinates and relay any other information they received to higher command. Being the line of communication between MacDill Air Force Base and the Joint Chiefs of Staff meant that General Andrushko had access to a lot of information but he couldn't keep eyes on all of it. He often found it to be a great challenge to get all of the branches working together like this. The combination of soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and the alphabet agencies meant that there was gonna be some stigma that they would just work with others of their own branch but Andrushko made them work together and implied a professionalism be taken each day and adhere to the concept of being the true eyes of the United States military. His men however wondered how much of this was taking into consideration that for the last two years he had been at odds end on what really happened to his son. Even more so that he lost the two people he loved more than anything in life. They all knew the story from what they had been told from him that had been told by the CIA who informed him of what happened over two years ago. Taliban militants had managed to find out that a certain FOB was not really a FOB at all and they staged a massive raid. The CIA had managed to purge and destroy all of the intelligence there so that it wouldn't fall into the hands of terrorists, but there were no known survivors. The Marines from Shorabak who arrived to inspect the destroyed site weren't able to identify all the bodies and that included Andrushko's son Damien. He held on to that belief that his son was still alive out there somewhere. But his soul was beginning to doubt. His Chief of Staff Colonel Aaron Raiser knew that that's what Marcus had to be thinking about as he was a little hesitant at addressing his flock this morning.

"We're waiting on you sir. We're ready and it's a light plate today." He said gently to get the General's attention.

"Ahem, yes. Anyway as you all know next week will be the final pull out of official combat troops in Iraq. 2nd ID is going be completely gone and not long after that at the end of the month "New Dawn" will begin. SECDEF says that's when all of us are going to start pulling in overtime. Commander?"

The SEAL stood up. "Sir, we'll be stepping up our operations with not only the support troops there but Afghanistan as well. We're already on schedule, we know what to do."

"What about our eyes on Mexico Captain?"

The pilot stood up. "We've been giving the people we trust the most on movements of the drug cartel's from our surveillance drones but what goes down from there sir we can't predict who will get it. Money does have the ability to change opinions."

The General sighed. "Nothing we can really do about it. Anything else?"

The NSA representative he had raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Carlyle what is it?"

"It may be nothing General but my contacts in China passed something along to me that was a little bizarre."

Andrushko rolled his eyes. "If it's about the North Koreans flexing their bone thin arms again I'm not interested."

"It's not that sir, it's the details of an incident that happened at a state run Chinese steel mill in Ethiopia a few days ago."

"What about it?"

"Well the Chinese are officially saying that it was some local extremists that were against China's influence in Africa so they decided to shoot up the place and they killed a Chinese General in the process."

"Skip to the end man. This so far is sounding like China's problem." He said as if he wanted this meeting to end.

"But according to some evidence they gathered that's not the real story. According to the locals that were interviewed there were only two people that started that attack, a woman initially but a man then joined in the fight presumably as her back up. And from the shell casings that were gathered as evidence, even though it was of NATO origin and caliber they could tell it wasn't Chinese ammunition. Only places to get it from was from either Germany, Britain, or us."

Andrushko then squinted his eyes. "Two people with bullets supposedly provided by us were used to assassinate a General in the PLA?" He then raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"

Carlyle held firm. "Beijing is in an uproar over this, I'm just passing on the information General."

Andrushko then checked his watch. "OK I gotta meet with the Admiral in five. If nothing else dismissed."

 _Not our problem. But still who in the hell would go head on with the PLA?_

 **0900 Hours**

 **CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia**

"Bookman! Glad I caught you, I wanted to get the latest on what you needed for the operation."

George Black had gone by many names in his career, but they all seemed to fall upon literature. This one was apparently his favorite as that it was knowledge that always triumphed over everything.

"I'm sorry Narville but I'm afraid "Under Shaft" is canceled for today. I have a flight out this morning and I won't be back for a while."

"Aww. That's why I got here so early too. Ok see you when you get back sir."

Black then went to his office to collect his overnight bag and brief case, it was hard to imagine that this office like environment was home to some of the most classified information on Earth. Like the United States military it operated around the clock twenty four hours a day. If foreign state official was cheating on his wife, they knew about it. If a fleet of ships was conducting a training exercise, they knew what for. If a bomber was discussing plans for hitting a peace rally they knew what the target would be specifically. If it was in the best interest of the United States then it would be implemented, regardless of the fact on how it was done was either black or white. But some things required the more simple methods of gathering intelligence, just face to face conversation. That was what George Black needed to do on his trip that would take him to Italy.

"The tickets ready?" He asked his secretary slash driver.

"Yes Chief Black."

"Then let's head to Dulles, my flight's in one hour."

 **0940 Hours**

The driver was fairly new to working with Black and he didn't seem like the type that wanted to work in an office all day. As they were driving toward the airport he turned around to ask.

"Chief can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" He responded looking out the window.

"It's been on my mind for a while, why do people call you "Bookman"?"

"Most people consider me a bit of a scholar. I'm fluent in Arabic and during my days in Annapolis I was exceptional in ancient Arabian literature so I wanted to be an Arab historian. A lot of my Middle Eastern friends call me "Rajul Alahrf" which means Man of Letters. The Italian's call me "Burattinaio" which means Puppet Master. To be quite honest I have so many nicknames from my contacts around the world I can't really keep up."

His driver chuckled. "Come on Chief it can't be that hard."

"I'm not joking, not many in this line of work thinks that have nicknames and code names is a good idea. Sometimes it can make others seem what they are not."

 **August 13** **th** **2010 0800 Hours**

 **Athens, Greece, The Mara Nostrum Hotel, Koko's Suite**

"Sometimes this job can be pretty sweet."

As I sat outside on the balcony enjoying my baklava and morning coffee overlooking the Aegean Sea, it was a fantastic way to start the morning. The bright blue sea along with the clear sky meant it was gonna be a perfect day. As a fan of history, Greek history was one of my favorite things to study primarily because they influenced the concept of democracy into the world, Athens in particular. Most military types like to proclaim and say how awesome Sparta was because of how ferocious they were as warriors but they really didn't understand the Greek city states actual history or who they were as a people. Their society was a one track mind militarist state and the greatest thing a man could achieve in his life was to die for Sparta. I also found out that women in Sparta at this point in history were given far more political, societal, and economic freedoms than almost any other nation of the ancient world. But their primary role above all else was to be baby makers. I could only imagine of what Sophia would do in that situation, nuff said on that. When I first learned of George S. Patton's famous quote that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country, you won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country it solidified my perception on what a soldier should truly be. If this state existed in modern times, I would laugh them off and say that this battle was over long before the first shot was fired. The overly strict discipline and arrogant pride of the Spartans played a big role in their downfall as a truly influential part of Greece when they were crushed by the Thebans, one of the more moderate city states, at the Battle of Leuctra.

Not to say that Athens was any better. The Ionian Revolt which they got themselves into hot water with the Persian Empire. Their slave population at the time outnumbered actual Athenians anywhere from 2 to 1 to 6 to 1. Not to mention that girls were inclined to be married when they were fourteen. But I wasn't planning on going around bashing the Greeks for the next two weeks. The beaches, the architecture, the art, and general friendliness of the people I had encountered so far meant that this vacation was going to be a hell of a lot better than our little accident we had in Dubai. Koko was smart enough to bring my scrap book along with a few other "necessities" for me on our little excursion. It was supposed to be enjoyable but that all was ruined when she slammed a relatively thick stack of papers in front of me. A man could hope, sometimes but I didn't think I could beg my way out of this one.

"Ugh. Can we at least do this down on the beach?" I pleaded.

"Consider yourself lucky that you're even _looking_ at the beach. Now get your laptop and help Valmet with the stocks and later you'll help me with tax and transaction records."

She was sitting on her bed already meticulously at work with papers spread out everywhere and giving me the look that I knew I couldn't get out of this situation.

"Fuck."

 **1200 Hours**

 **Poolside Café**

I felt like I was back in high school again. The endless and repetitive amounts of numbers and totally boring shit was causing my brain to melt. At least she was a little bit more merciful by letting us out of the hotel room to work by the pool having lunch. Mediterranean summers were often dry and it sucked that I couldn't swim, but at least I was able to get my tan on. As I sat on the long chair working on the taxes on my laptop the multitude of tourists and locals went on with their vacations while some gave me some odd looks. Granted I had my bandage off and five stitches on my torso from a gunshot wound were dead giveaway. But I did get a few extra glances from a few passing Greek women, just cause I was wearing sunglasses didn't mean I didn't see them eyeballing me. So when I flexed my pectorals a specific way naturally they looked at me a little amorously, Greeks did take great pride in admiring the beauty of the human body. But that all came to a painful end when I was reminded to work and not play with a sharp smack to the back of the head. Which followed by the presence of a real life battle scared Amazon in a black bikini. Then followed by the penetrating stare of one gold colored eye.

"OUCH! Shit, what was that for!?"

"You're here to help out me and Koko not flirt with the local tramps."

Like she was any better at avoiding wandering eyes, she and Koko were gaining the attraction of every male species at the pool. Also not to mention the fact that while she was getting us a bungalow reservation she stomped on a guy's toe breaking it when he tried to hit on her. Granted on whoever was looking at her right now any man would. But in the current world I gotten myself into, someone like her would definitely use her curves and appeal as a weapon. A savvy warrior uses all of his or her tools. Including playing with the emotions of others.

"Hey you made me sleep on the floor again last night, I'm still a little upset. And is this jealousy I hear coming from you?"

"What you're about to hear is the breaking of bone if you don't shut up!"

"Like on how you just almost got the three of us booted out of the hotel for assaulting someone?"

"That's enough you two! I'm not gonna play babysitter to two brats this whole time, so cut it out." Koko appeared behind us in her ridiculous hat and open white shirt. Holding a tray with three plates of Greek.

"Sorry Koko." We said together.

As she handed our lunches to us we dug in, Mediterranean dishes normally popped with a combination of olives, tomatoes, and a lot of greens but I was more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy. The girls had salmon and tomato salad while I had lamb wrapped in pita bread. I had to take small bites and chew extra thoroughly since a portion of my insides were ripped apart by a .45 slug, my food had to go in smooth. It didn't make it any less painful even with the meds I took in small doses.

"You ok Damien?" Koko asked mouth full of salad.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt as much as it did a few days ago. How you doing Sophia? How's your breathing?"

"I'm ok, it's just that the right side of my back keeps hurting every time I move my arm."

I did notice that her right side was only covering the bullet marks with simple bandages as compared to the gauze I had to wear on my stomach. But there was the larger one that covered her tattoo, I didn't need to figure out that the doctors had to cut through the thing in order to fix her lung. Once we got the chance, I would pay to get her ink fixed.

"Heh, good thing that bitch Low was a lousy shot."

I paused on my next bite and shut my laptop. I then realized it wasn't always the rounds that killed you, it was the damage after that.

"Now what's wrong?"

"Unfortunately she _did_ do what I said she had to do to get to you." I took off my shades. "And it's my fault you got shot too, I wasn't paying attention. Like I said I thank you for saving me but at the time I don't think I deserved it."

As I was looking down at the stitches on my chest I felt two fingers on my forehead separate my hair out of my face and hooking it behind my ears. Koko was looking at me in her usual smile and gentle tone of reassurance.

"Stop blaming yourself. Your both alive right now, that's all that matters."

I smiled back. "You right I'm sorry, but anyway back to our conversation from earlier. You said that the assassins you let go gave you the name of who hired them?"

"Not fully, they just said they would receive a big pay-off from what they believed was a shell company that represented a certain intelligence agency."

That was something I didn't want to hear. I knew there was a lot of people that wanted Koko dead but since I was with her now the heat on her had gotten a lot hotter.

"Scarecrow?" I asked the obvious question.

"No, not in the least. He's not that clued in on you. Now I know this is a sensitive topic, but you do know how the CIA is broken down in handling their agents right?"

"Yeah I do." I put back on my shades and continued to eat. Most definitely not wanting to answer.

"Well come on genius boy or as your Professor I'll have to give you an F."

Koko teased. Sophia laughed. I sighed heavily.

"At the top there's the chiefs that oversee all field operations, depending on which section of theater of operations they oversee. Below them are their staff officers that manage what they can't much like the chain of command in a regular military unit from general to colonel to captain. Field officers come in two types, case officers are basically the HUMIT and do a lot of the information collecting whether it be digital, word of mouth, or physical evidence. Then there's the true one percenters of US Special Operations, the Special Activities Division. Nothing further needs to be said about those psychos."

I said that last part with a lot of grittiness and from the looks on Sophia and Koko's faces they knew what I had experienced from them first hand. I had to constantly look over my shoulder for two years because these guys were literally real life boogie men. They didn't necessarily had to go at you head on or take you out with a sniper round. They could poison your food, tamper with your cars breaks, cause bizarre accidents, or just pay people enough to get them to do their dirty work. But then it hit me.

"Wait a second, don't tell me these guys are the ones that ordered that hit?"

"Well we tend to clash with them more times than I care to admit, they're the only ones that truly make me wanna turn tail and run. But we are as much a thorn in their side as they are in ours. It's just that that last bunch made me think."

It wasn't long after my little rampage on Anvil that I went to Istanbul to hide out for a while once I got enough money in Pakistan. Naturally I was going through a little more stress than I should have. Even though I was trained to avoid capture by the enemy, I didn't think I'd have to run from my own military. I had to take in the advice of some of my new employer's on how to stay off the radar of the intelligence agencies. After I left Pakistan I went through a bit of a stressful episode and was trying to figure out what the hell I was gonna do next. Since I had no ideas, I figured I just wing it and do whatever. It wasn't till after a night of a little too much drinking I woke up from a black out and the first thing I asked myself was that how the hell was I still alive? Despite Kane and his squad being egotistical pricks they were picked from the best in special forces across all the branches. But then I realized that they also recruited from the worst as well. They wanted guys to do the nasty shit, the type of shit your average man wouldn't lose sleep over. Except in my case they picked up something a bit too unstable and it blew up in their face.

"Someone you know?"

"There's a lot of people that want me dead. But there is one that kind of stood out the most."

I then heard Sophia growl. "That bitch never knows when to quit."

"Well who's this 'bitch'?" I asked Koko.

"We don't know her real name but she's a female SAD member that goes by the code name 'Hex'."

"Hold up a lady SAD member? You sure she's not a field agent?"

"Nope. I've only heard rumors but she's pretty much on par with your knowledge and skills as a Green Beret."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I know that these types of stories end up as cool entertainment if you wanted to meet Black Widow or Cat Woman. But then again, the SAD were a law unto themselves, it did make me question this woman's mental stability. Not that I have any real right to judge a person's mental well-being considering what I did. But she had to have been a veteran of this kind of crap. At least I could take pride in the fact on what I knew was going on was wrong.

"Well then I'll admit, you may be right. But I'm infinitely more likable and better looking aren't I?"

I finished putting my hands behind my head attempting to flex but I then remembered I had a hole in my chest and reacted to the pain in a way that I just stubbed my toe really hard.

"Likeable idiot is more appropriate." Sophia burned and Koko laughed.

"Well if your insistent on looks then follow Valmet's example and get a haircut."

I then took slight offense to that, I kind of prided it. It showed that I never wanted to be associated with Army life again as I ran my hands through it. I then realized it had gone past my shoulders and was now reaching my chest.

"Koko you are my boss not my mother. I'll put it in ponytail if I need to."

"Hey I'm serious. You keep growing it we're gonna lose you under all that hair and it'll be something in the way when Valmet kisses you next time."

I then heard a plate shatter and the sound of choking on food followed by spitting it back out.

"KOKO! You were watching us!?"

"Nah. I just found that out just now."

Caught in her own words she had no idea what to say and instead just turned away from us and picked up the pieces of the broken plate as if she didn't hear a word she said. I then just realized that I was also caught in a battle of which I didn't think I could win. Koko then stood up and grabbed me by the head pulling me a little too tightly to her chest.

"Well if you're going to act like that then I'm going to take Damien out to show him the sights and you can do the rest of the paperwork."

"But Koko-!"

"NO BUTS! Come along Damien or do you want to keep working?"

 _Like I said, this SERIOUSLY can't be happening._

"Sorry Sophia she wins. If I have to look at one more tax form I'll gouge my own eyes out."

I then realized that I probably shouldn't have done that. Not cause of fear of physical repercussion but since she did save my life I shouldn't just fall back on to how we interacted from before. I would have to make a proper apology when I got my camera filled up. But I really couldn't keep going on with those forms, it wasn't worth it.

 **1900 Hours**

 **Naples, Italy**

As R was enjoying the comforts of home in one of the local bistros he knew that there was more on his vacation than he had planned. He made a call to him and insisted that he speak face to face given the incident that happened a week ago. A simple dish of spaghetti and marinara was hearty enough but he knew his guest would want something a bit more filling so he ordered a thick cut of ribeye. The last two years he spent undercover were starting to show signs that whatever Koko was planning was going to be completed soon. But something more complicated and even dangerous had come up in the last few months, Damien. His exploits were already well known throughout the intelligence world, but from working alongside him for all these months showed that the so called Nightmare was not all that he appeared to be. But that was a separate topic, he was about to get his answers from what he really wanted to know from the man who he first met in the Bosnian War fifteen years ago.

"It's been a long time Saw."

He held out his hand and he shook it firmly.

"Glad to see your still doing well, R."

R then mentioned to his waiter that his guest was here and brought the food and wine over. Bookman then dug in rather carnivorously. R poured a full glass of cabernet.

"I see you still have a healthy appetite."

"What are you my wife? I hungry from all that travel. But anyway what on earth do you need me for? It had to be REAL urgent if you want to talk to me face to face."

R finished his glass rather quickly and then explained.

"We had an incident a few days ago, turns out someone at the company backed a bunch of hitmen to target Koko and I was also shot at by one of them. From what she said that the same people who were watching us were the same ones who hired them."

Bookman then swallowed another piece of meat. "Sounds like she's pointing the finger at us. But your right this could grow into a bit of a tumor. This mission would come to a screeching halt and your cover would be done if she ever found out about you. Sending assassins doesn't make a damn bit of sense and Koko is a crucial part of this operation. Nothing good would come from killing her."

R then refilled his glass and twirled up a bite of spaghetti.

"Which is why I didn't believe you were behind this. But I needed to see you and confirm that. But that also means…"

"An insider?" He finished up for him.

"Possibly. I know Koko has a lot of enemies but if something like this comes up again I might not have any choice but to expose myself and she wouldn't hesitate to kill me if she found out I was working for the company. If I was lucky she'd only let me explain and then kill me."

"Alright, I'll get to the bottom of this you don't need to worry."

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Just one more thing since we rarely have these conversations what have you learned about the target in the last two years you've been under cover?"

R took a deep breath and set down his glass.

"To be perfectly honest Saw I have no fucking idea. The woman hides her true feelings and emotions behind a very thick aura. Kinda reminds me of when you first picked me up in Bosnia. Those warlords I was chasing with the Bersaglieri were all different types. Some smart others charismatic but they all had dark hearts. She however is different. While being one of the most beautiful women I've ever met, whatever the situation is she walks solely on the gray path, the fine line of good and evil. Remember about when I reported in that she turned over Nicoleavich to us? I remember she saying that he was a dragon of our own creation and one of the doctors we were escorting said maybe she was one too."

Bookman then burst out in a polite laugh. "I'm sorry continue."

"She tried to hide it but her actions after that seemed off balance. She's aware of what she's turning into and she's afraid of what her subordinates will see her for when her true form emerges."

"That's actually quite human of her. I don't want to see her become an uncontrollable beast either. But one that still concerns me is her acquaintance with that crazy Japanese scientist Amada. They're scheming something so secret that it's not even funny."

R then finished his wine and last bite of spaghetti, he figured it was now time to tell him a little secret of his own.

"There is one more thing here that we haven't taken into consideration. Something I don't think either of us could have foreseen. I didn't report this in partially because he never had anything to do with this operation. But then a few days ago I realized that he's a wild card in this whole thing."

"What do you mean, who?"

"Back in April we received a new member of Koko's crew. When we first met him everyone had looks of concern but honestly, I was the only one there that was on the verge of shitting myself. Damien Hannibal Andrushko."

Bookman froze as he took his last bite of meat but then began to chew like normal. The man who took the CIA head on and survived was with his undercover agent in Koko Hekmatyar's company. If he was concerned he didn't show it.

"You said he was a wild card, how do you figure?"

"I think that the designation for calling him "Nightmare" is a bit of an over exaggeration from what I've found out about him. The stories about his exploits are true, about HIM though, not so much."

"Go on."

"He's every bit as determined and deadly as people say he is. He's also extremely intelligent, both intellectually and socially. He seemingly always wants to grow and learn more. The reason he's a total wild card is because if he at all figures out what this operation is I don't know for sure how he will react to it. But he's easier to read than you might think. He's actually one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. I also eavesdropped on a conversation that the little lady had with our team leader John Lehmbrick. How he took on the SAD because apparently they shot first, he believes that he took things too far and he hates himself for it. As well as the fact that he hasn't seen home in so long he misses it. I can tell because of how often he checks the news for what's happening in America all the time. He tends to hide sadness behind a scowl of ruggedness. But there was one thing that sold me on that whoever gave him that nickname was full of it."

"What was that?"

"One of our members Valmet, former FRDP Major Sophia Velmer, left on a rouge mission just a few days before the assassins came. Damien followed her and a week later we had to pick them both up badly injured in Ethiopia. Damien almost bled to death trying to save her life. He also seems to act as a limiter for Koko, allows her to be a little more carefree and relieve any type of built up tension. What she sees in him, I have no idea. Lastly before we then split off to our vacation spots he then told us he was glad to be part of something special and that he loved us all and I didn't need to figure out someone else too. He gave me a copy of the picture we took before we left, here."

He pulled out his smart phone and handed it to Bookman. They were comically bunched together with various poses with Damien and Valmet in the center with Koko grabbing both their hair. Bookman then thought it was terribly cute.

"You mentioned someone else, care to mention who?"

"It's only a guess but I'm gonna say only one of two." He said as he chuckled.

"Heh heh. Well if nothing else I want to leave you with one more thing. Find out how many rockets she's fired."

"I'll try, anything else?"

"If Andrushko trust's you, make sure you maintain that trust."

"You're not thinking of making him part of the plan are you?"

"No you were right earlier. He doesn't have anything to do with this and he's a wild card. It'd be best to keep him uninvolved."

With that the two men concluded their meeting. The CIA was getting close to try and turn Koko into whatever scheme they were hatching. The world of spy's was a very elaborate chess game and it didn't always include just two sets of playing pieces. A changing world was arriving, it was all a matter of who was going to steer it.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Changing World**

 **August 21** **st** **2010 1900 Hours**

 **Athens, Greece**

I figured that she would have at least eased up a bit after I fell asleep while continuing to type reports but Koko was relentless. The last time I did something like that was when I dozed off during school and kept writing notes, but after I regained my senses I was just writing scribbles. But after it happening several times, she finally decided to let me have a night off by going out to eat. The previous day I had to find a decent tattoo artist in the city to do some retouches on Sophia's tattoo from where one of Low's shots clipped her wing. Naturally of course I had to pay for that out of my own pocket. Along with a little extra to stop the artist from asking any questions. What was crazy though was how much pain tolerance she had. I mean not more than a week earlier she just regained consciousness several days after being shot four times in the back and then she was under the needle of a tattoo artist getting the wings retouched. Granted though I wasn't really practicing on taking good care of my body as well after that little incident by drinking. But at least I didn't have to worry about mixing my medication with booze anymore since I finished my prescription. I never had grappa before, it wasn't too bad.

"What they make this stuff out of anyway?" I asked Koko.

"Grapes, same as wine, but they distill it from the pomace. That's the leftovers from after they make regular wines."

As I poured us both the first round I took notice on the bottle, 90 proof. I was told by the crew that she was a very mean drunk and I don't think that a somewhat small thing like herself could handle the alcohol content. But I was never the one to turn down free booze, especially from a lady. We toasted and drank it all in one gulp finishing at the same time. It was just us tonight at a rather nice looking rooftop place that oversaw Athens that I gave up on trying to pronounce the name. Well to be more precise it was my turn for her to make me feel miserable from darting off and not telling her. I could handle almost any type of physical stress that was thrown my way. For example from a rather hilarious story Koko told me the other day. If I didn't leave I'd probably be the stopping force that would have helped crush the crew when she apparently drop kicked all of them when they were bunched up in a doorway when they told her I left. Lutz told me it was one of the most hysterical ways he'd ever seen her like that and he had seen way more than I had. But then came the painful reality that she was also serious as he got the brunt force of her stiletto to his face. Despite the nature in the way he got hurt it was more often hysterical.

"It's only your first round Damien, don't tell me you're drunk already?" Her face was already starting to flush from the grappa.

"Naw, but do tell me does this remind you of anyone?"

I grabbed both sides of my hair and pulled it to the side, crossed my eyes, stuck my tongue out and then imitated.

"WAAAHH."

Koko stared for about three seconds and didn't know how to answer. It was a little out of character compared to my three usual attitudes of sarcasm, antisocial, and silent.

"Uhh…care to explain?"

"What? Isn't that how you reacted when you found out Sophia and I went off the reservation?"

"Not that elaborate and I didn't try to pull my hair out."

"Still hilarious from what the rest of the guys said."

As we both laughed the waiter came over with our food and we started eating. All jokes aside, it was another miracle that she managed to pull off in order to save us both. It made me wonder on how she managed to get away with even half the shit that she did. But then I thought of what couldn't have been more obvious, money. While number six on the core concepts of economics as a whole most people tend to think that it's number one because if you have enough you could literally move mountains. To an extent it was somewhat true and a sad fact is that it can fuel power and it can lead to corruption. All too similar to what was festering in Afghanistan and Iraq, the damn fools in Washington thought they could just keep throwing money at the problem and thought it could get fixed. But the bombings continued and neighborhoods that were cleared out of insurgents were just replaced the moment the US presence there wasn't as strong. The governments of both nations saying that they still weren't ready to take on the insurgents, which I knew was a load of crap. They were just too weak to make the choice of doing what they must do instead of wanting to do. And the United States was stuck in the rut with them because of how the world would then view us. I would say to hell with that, who cares what others would think. Each human being on this planet, whether they admit it or not, has a will to make a choice. Those choices and the actions that follow are a reflection of who they really are. It didn't matter whether who was weak or strong, smart or stupid, careful or reckless, it doesn't matter. All that really matters is the truth. As I looked outside to the window to the Athens cityscape even after Koko brought me on, my life was still an emotional roller coaster that didn't seem to stop. Killing and destruction not included.

 _Who am I really?_

"Lost in thought again Damien?" She asked.

I turned back to her and continued to eat. "Yeah I was just thinking about a few trivial things that were…well let's just say business wise."

"You ready to get back to work this soon? We just started to eat!" She teased.

"Ok that's not funny." I said pointing an accusing finger.

"I'm sorry! Please continue." She said waving me off.

"Do you think that people would eventually figure out that throwing money at a problem over and over again will not work?"

"Depends on a few things. One, and most obvious, what type of problem it is. Two it will depend on whether or not that said person is either fugal or wasteful. Lastly it depends on who receives the transaction on what type of goods and services will be provided and if they will be of good or poor quality. But if you keep getting the same results then yes, a logical thinking person will figure it out."

"Hmm. Glad we're both of one mind on that." I agreed.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking about what you said to me and Sophia in the hospital, that you were just mad about the money and not us. You must have built a lot of solid loyalty with this crew, you guys protect and care about each other in a way that's not even seen amongst the most tight knit military units. It's more like an actual family."

As Koko then speared her next bite of chicken I saw her smile slowly fade, I must have brought up a bad memory.

"Before I start, it was _mostly_ about the money." She said pointing at me while letting me know I couldn't weasel my way out of my punishment. "Anyway I learned a long time ago that you can't just simply pay someone to be your guardian, it's the trust you build up with your subordinates when you're a leader. A leader should always smile, not scowl and threaten. That's the key to the life we lead."

Educated military leadership would counter that but this was different. In this case on where I was at now in my life it made more sense. But the way she said that last part didn't sound like she came up with that on her own.

"Who taught you that last part?"

She set her fork down and put her hands on the table connecting them. Looks like it was her turn to share a bad bedtime story with me.

"It was one of my former bodyguards, a man by the name of Sean Eckhart, I called him Echo. He, Lehm, and Wiley were my three original body guards when I was still just a child. They all were recruited by my father into HCLI from the US Delta Force and he assigned them to me. Not long after that Chiquita came on to the crew as well after she got into some trouble with some bad people. I don't think I need to explain to you that being the daughter of one of the biggest shipping tycoons in the world makes you a prime target if someone wanted to exploit your father. They were with me for the longest time and we grew to care about each other very much. It wasn't that long after that, that I came across Valmet and brought her in. Naturally they didn't take her seriously at first but I don't think I need to explain to you that she got her point across. Only one to not judge was Lehm."

"I take it that this was his first marriage to Chiquita at this time?" I asked knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Yes. But anyway a few years ago we got into a deal that turned out to be an ambush. They had us completely outnumbered and they managed to separate all of us. Valmet was the one that lead me away while the rest tried to hold them back. I remembered being so frightened that I was literally hyperventilating, I screamed at Valmet that I paid her so she had to save me. Naturally she struck me across the face and told me to get ahold of myself. As I stood there dumbstruck but still scared I then heard Echo."

 _I think I know what's coming next._

"He placed his hand on my cheek said he didn't need or want anything but just for me to stop crying. As he took it away he left a bloody handprint. Not long after that Wiley appeared in our getaway vehicle with Lehm and Chiquita. He then ran back to where the attackers were to buy us some time to escape. That was the last time I ever saw him."

She finished the story then and there. I didn't need to figure out the fact that in order for her to get away it cost him his life. He must have gone through the exact same interactions that I had experienced with the rest of the crew. He, Lehm, and Wiley had built sturdy foundation on building comradeship by seeing each other as not only people but themselves as well.

I reached across the table and took her hands. They weren't soft and delicate like I thought they would have been from a woman of prestige, they were frim and somewhat dry. They were workers hands, the hands of someone who gave a damn about their life and wanted to work hard for it. Normally those that are born into money tend to have their success already planned out for them, but there are exceptions. Some tend to squander their fortune and ride off of their parents success, but Koko was different. She wanted to make her own successes and learn from her own failures. I did wonder how she managed to do that and achieve the knowledge she has without ever going to any form of education in her life. But no matter how she did it, she more than earned it.

"I'm sorry about your friend. He must have been rather special, and you know thinking back on it I haven't really been what you might call the most efficient team player. Questions about Dr. Miami, Dubai, Baldra, and just recently I've tended to act more on selfish reasons rather than selfless ones. You now have my word, no more Mr. Hard Ass."

Her smile then came back and she wrapped both her hands around mine. I then noticed that on while she was a larger than life person, she was still a woman of gentle build. Her own hands just barely covered my one.

"You haven't acted like that at all around me. You told me yourself you have a reason for everything you do, and that includes stealing away my sister." She winked.

"Jealous?" I threw the next jab.

"Now that's an ugly term. I would prefer competitive." She countered.

"Sorry but I don't think you're going to win. Charming personality only goes so far." I said as I took my hand back and crossed my arms.

"And being a sarcastic jackass does?" Haymaker out of nowhere.

"Now _I_ prefer the term comedian."

As I tried to block that with all my strength, Koko's phone then began to buzz. She then put in a return text and then grabbed her glass to refill.

"What's up?"

"I'll let you know later. Now eat up Captain Damien! There'll be no wasted food!" She said commandingly while pointing her fork at me.

 **2230 Hours**

 **The Mara Nostrum Hotel**

After we were done with dinner and she had a few more drinks in her than she should have I could understand why everyone would try to stop her or avoided her when she had too much. While I was driving the both of us back to the hotel she had already asked the same question five times already and even though I gave the same answer her response was always different but it included wailing on my arm each time. Even though I was healing up fine and it didn't hurt as much, I was glad she at least didn't hit my chest. But my arm was starting to go numb, I didn't know she could hit that hard.

"COME ON DAMIEN. TELL ME WHAT DO YOU SEE IN VALMET?"

That made number six, she was clearly beyond smashed at that point. Even though everyone had already checked in for the night we were still getting some attention from the hotel staff. As I led Koko by her hand she was stumbling behind me as we made to the elevator, and gave the same answer after we then started to go up to her suite. I gave this answer though as if I didn't care what she thought.

"Ugh…I told you _five times_ already. She has an incredible drive to succeed, she doesn't know how to fail."

Koko then stood there looking at me as if she was judging me. I knew what was gonna happen next, it all depended on what she was going to say however but this one came rather bluntly.

"OH DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT. YOU LIKE HER BOOBS DON'T YOU?"

I was so glad that we were still in the elevator when she blurted that out. Although the overwhelming smell of grappa from her breath didn't help. While she wasn't completely wrong in stating the obvious about Sophia, I had absolutely no response to that one as she started hitting my arm again.

"Koko come on! Please calm down!" I pleaded and she didn't let up.

"I KNEW IT. YOU MEN ARE ALL THE SAME. ONE LOOK AT OVERSIZED MAMMARY GLANDS AND YOUR BRAINS SHUT DOWN."

As the elevator reached the top floor I prayed to God that no one walked out to see what was going on, Sophia especially. I didn't know as far as relationships go that we were at that point but if she came across this I'd be dead, literally. Koko continued to hit me in the back with her free hand while I lead her to our suite, as well as with her drunken rant.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I TAKE THAT BACK. THAT CAN'T BE THE CASE CAUSE YOU LIKE HER LIKE THAT. YOU'RE SO MUCH OF A NARCISSIST THAT WHEN YOU SEE HER YOU SEE YOURSELF. YOU GIVE A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE "GO FUCK YOURSELF"."

This was getting out of hand. I did not want to have to deal with her drunken craziness for the rest of the night. As we were in the hallway almost to our room I turned around and shook her hard by the shoulders.

"Koko! Enough! GET-A-GRIP!"

Then without warning she leaned into me with one of her hugs. This time burying her face in my chest and her hands tightening around me. As if she was scared of losing me. She then started to speak softly, but still slurred, and as if she held a great concern for me.

"How much do you truly care about her Damien? Please answer me honestly."

Once again she caught me off guard, I had no choice but to do what she said. Despite missing an eye that made her appear vicious, the most deadly skill set I've ever seen on anybody with a blade and being a little hot tempered there where qualities about her I couldn't deny. She was strong, focused, innocent and whether or not she cared she was rather gorgeous. I never thought that even in my wildest dreams thought that a woman like her would exist. But I then remembered of the current company I kept and what we managed to accomplish together, Koko especially.

I took a deep breath and answered.

"I haven't truly had the chance to ask her on how she feels. I would like to think of us as more than friends now but I can't answer that yet unless I know for sure. And if she says no, I won't push."

After a few seconds she let go, staring up to me in her usual fixed smile. She then walked to our suite, still in a drunken stupor.

"Well then I'll give you plenty of time figure that out. But like I said, I don't intend on losing, even if it's to someone who've I've spent more time with than my own real family. Now if you'll excuse me I have to booze off this sleep. I got you your own room for the rest of the time we're here. A reward for all your suffering you took from both the pen AND the paper AND the typing! Nighty night!"

As she sloppily put in her key card to her door she was pointing the opposite room next to hers, it was unlocked. As she stumbled in I sighed heavily and was glad that she was Sophia's problem now. I didn't think that she could have won me over with a free room though but I was getting a little tired of sleeping on the floor. I was ecstatic that all that crap I was filling out was done though.

As I entered the room I took off my shoes, jacket, and shirt. I saw my things lying next to the couch in the middle of the rather large room I now had all to myself and threw them on the couch. I actually didn't even need to turn on the light as I saw the moonlight was shining rather brightly through the balcony windows. I didn't really have anything else to do tonight so I decided to pour one glass of scotch and then slip under the blankets. As I finished prepping my drink at the mini bar I decided to sit out on the balcony. As I opened the glass door I was immediately hit by the warm evening breeze and the scent of the sea. But before I stepped outside I froze, as I heard soft footsteps approaching me from behind. They stopped right behind me and then I saw well-toned arms wrap around my waist and felt the body of a woman press against my back. It looked like this was what Koko meant by giving me time. I did find it strange though. From what I interpreted she wanted to win me over but she's ok with letting her be with me for now. But I'd think about that later.

 _Looks like now's the time to find out how she feels._

"Your senses are starting to get very dull Damien. I could have been an assassin and killed you five times already."

I ignored her and just asked her straight up front. "Are you sure about this?"

I sat my drink down and turned around to face her. Dressed in a simple black tank top and shorts, she was a tomboy through and through. As a stronger breeze from outside came in again it blew her shortened pitch black hair back gently and then my own much longer brown hair covered my sight. She then moved my hair out my face and put her hand on my cheek. Her one gold eye spoke something to me that I had never thought I'd ever see from a woman like her, desire.

"I want you to answer me just one thing."

"Sure what is it?"

Her response wasn't words but actions. As she grabbed my wrist with her other hand, swept my leg out from under me and pushed me down on to the carpet and she then straddled me. It hurt a little bit more than I wanted to but I kinda expected that Sophia was one to take charge. But I didn't mind, I always rolled with the punches both figurative and literally no matter what I was up against. I sat up and got face to face with her, our arms wrapped around each other tight.

"You still didn't ask the question."

She then looked at me with a smile that symbolized that she was never more happy than she had ever been in her life as well as being a little shy. But spoke with a softness that I had never heard her say before. This was her human side talking to me, not just another powerful warrior, but her as a woman.

"You meant…what you said right?"

I started off with a bit of a sly smirk and then I could have answered a little better.

"Hell yeah."

In that moment, two hearts and two bodies connected. She leaned forward and I leaned back, our lips connected and tongues danced in our mouths. Neither of us needed anything else in the world right now other than each other. She then leaned back up and took off her tank top, the glory that was beneath it was awe inspiring. The both of us then gave into our carnal desires and were focused solely on making each other feel something good. Judging from the way she acted when we first met and that what we were doing now probably meant that this was the first time she had been with someone else in a very long time. I was no exception to that either, for so long I've focused on nothing but the job and trying to stay alive that I had forgotten about my human side. I didn't even know if I was ever going to live my life normally again. But as our flesh caressed against each other's I had taken another step in towards cleansing my soul of anger and regret. As I was being embraced ever more tighter from a woman who in my eyes transcended humanity I then realized, while I enjoyed the embrace, I knew I was not worthy of her. But that didn't matter, all that did was the moment we were in.

 **August 22** **nd** **2010 1125 Hours**

 **Port Elizabeth, South Africa**

It had only been two weeks since General Chan's assassination and already several of the businesses that he owned in conjunction with Tashinhai had already been bought out by several South African local businesses. His five star restaurant, The Golden Horn, had been bought out and replaced with a farmers market. It's as if his influence in Port Elizabeth had suddenly just vanished. Along with the memories that he had even existed in the first place. It was on the level of how Karen Low felt, she wanted to pay respects by having one last drink at the restaurant her mentor once owned to honor him and she couldn't. It was then that she realized that she had nowhere to go or even live. As she adjusted her arm in the brace she had for her shoulder it caused her to wince from the pain on her side. She then started thinking about what happened.

A PLA patrol responded to the sound of shots fired near where they were searching for the two intruders that had rampaged through the steel mill. She was shot three times on the right side of her stomach, leading up to her chest and finishing on her left shoulder. After being rushed to a PLA emergency medical facility she managed to survive from her injuries after waking up the day after her surgery. The first people who greeted her after she woke were not the ones she wanted to see, agents of the Ministry of State Security. For three days, even in rehabilitation, she was questioned about what happened in the mill. The MSS as well as the Chinese General Staff was raising hell about how a terrorist group that they knew nothing about practically humiliated them and got away with it. But Karen didn't tell them the whole story, even though she wasn't present at the time of the attack, she knew who was responsible. She did not however confirm the kill of Koko Hekmatyar's two best body guards. Since she was already relieved of her command by the time the attack happened the MSS could not connect her with having anything to do with failing in her duty as a Lieutenant. That didn't however mean that they were going to help her, she was no longer the problem of the PLA and was left behind in Africa once she was discharged from her hospital in Ethiopia. She figured she would just return to Port Elizabeth and try to start over with one of Chan's business but she then saw how that turned out. With no place to live and her money almost gone, she wondered how she would have to survive. She then sat down outside the new farmers market that was once a restaurant to think, almost as if she was in a fetal position of absolute defeat.

Down the street Professor Amada and her bodyguard Mokoena had just finished shopping and were heading back to their office. She lit her cigarette and noticed that she was on the street where Chan had often took her to dinner.

"I can't believe that they turned Mr. Chan's excellent restaurant into that. I loved those spring rolls. I'm going to miss them." She said sadly.

"You know Doctor come to think of it we haven't had a call from Mr. Chan in quite some time. I wonder why?" He said curiously.

Amada sighed thinking that since she played so much hardball with Chan he must have given up. As they were about to continue back to her office she noticed a familiar woman. It was Karen Low sitting next to an orange stand. She immediately approached her to see if it was her.

"Karen is that you? You are Mr. Chan's secretary right? Lieutenant Karen Low?"

Low then looked up to Amada, eyes sagging and bloodshot from exhaustion. She then answered callously.

"Former Lieutenant, what do you want Dr. Amada?"

"Hey hey hey now! I can tell when a person is really down on their luck. If you have nowhere to go why don't you come with me?"

Low then looked at her and wondered why she was so interested in her all of a sudden. But before she could speak, Amada's had trapped her in one of her spiels where once she started she couldn't stop.

"You can be my new secretary and you can work at my lab in Marchen. I got two but I could use one more. I heard that you went with Mr. Chan up to Ethiopia but I'm glad your back. Your salary will be totally negotiable. Wow it's starting to get cold out here considering that summer is almost over. Hey wait a second what's with those bandages and brace? Are you injured? We'll fix you up at my place. Oh by the way this is Mokoena, I call him Moko for short. I also have another assistant named Malin but you already know her. Recently we've had a string of people keeping an eye on us. I think it's the CIA or spies from other industries. By the way when's the last time you showered? Never mind you can do that at the office. You sure look strong. I have high hopes for you!"

As she continued with her never ending stream, Mokoena just stared dumbfounded on why the Professor would take her time to help out her.

 _Looks like the Doctor's taking a real liking to her._

 **1300 Hours**

 **Marchen Toy Development, Professor Amada's Office**

Explaining the story over again to Professor Amada was as if she had memorized the whole thing by heart and she could explain it as if she was singing her favorite song. As she sat patiently for the doctor to respond she was working on one of her new prototypes, a bear dressed like a ninja.

"So that's what happened between Tashinhai and HCLI. Or maybe coming from your perspective, Chan and Valmet. I will admit that must have been quite a mess, not to mention that your government just left you to fend for yourself out here in Africa."

"You'll forgive me Doctor but I forgot how deep your connections are with HCLI."

As Dr. Miami took another puff of her cigarette she put her toy down and asked the former Lieutenant bottom line up front.

"Are you angry at the world because you lost both Tashinhai and your General at once?"

Karen took a moment to think before answering but knew the proper response.

"No. Not like that I should say."

"Well that figures for someone like you. Someone who runs from a fight wouldn't be able to feed herself. I can't blame you for wanting to blame the world, but you won't need to worry about that for now. I'll let you in on a little secret. That world that you once knew, is going to change."

Low then looked at the Professor with much confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It has to do with what Mr. Chan and I were discussing for the longest time. But that's all you need to know for right now, the rest is a secret. Ok now check this out!"

She then plugged her toy bear into her laptop and typed in a few words and the bear began moving its arms like if it was chopping.

"It's only the first test so far but I'm thinking of it being able to throw shuriken's! Now I'll help you find a place to rest for today and you start work tomorrow."

As Low sat there looking at the bear move she couldn't believe that she was now about to work for a woman that had friendly relations with the group that had killed her General and shot her. But she knew that she had to survive one way or another.

 _I don't have much of a choice. Looks like it's either work for her_ _or end up on the street._

 **September 3** **rd** **2010 1600 Hours**

The work that came with Professor Amada was for more or less eccentric. Her hyper attitude and various disappearances from work kept Low constantly on her toes. Keeping away spies from competitive toy companies to having Scarecrow himself actually eavesdrop on them. He was still trying to get his hands on Koko and figured Amada would be the next piece in the puzzle. Not to mention keeping it very hard to maintain a state of readiness whenever the Professor needed to go somewhere. She often kept things last minute, as when she was almost done for the day and Amada burst into her office.

"Karen! Pack your bags we're heading out to the Solomon Island's tomorrow morning!"

"Doctor I…ugh ok."

 **September 4** **th** **2010 0200 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Fruition**_ **, The Solomon Sea**

I woke up drenched in sweat and sprung up from my sleep, I felt like I was in someone's crosshairs. But then I realized I was in my cabin in the middle of the ocean, no snipers way out here. Plus even with the ships air conditioning it wasn't really keeping me that cool considering we were in rather warm tropical waters. I was however glad to be sleeping in my own bed again. Even more glad that I also had company, but the way I just sprang awake meant I had to have done the same to her. As I was running my hands through my hair and cracking my neck I heard a sigh and then felt a familiar hand on my shoulder.

"What's wrong? Everything ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine I just woke up suddenly. No idea why though."

Sophia then took her hand off me, felt the moisture with her fingers, and sat up. Then gave me a look that she knew I wasn't alright.

"You're absolutely soaked, you are anything but fine. It's not another nightmare is it?"

"No nothing like that, I'm fine, trust me. I just had some sort of shock."

She smiled gently and we both laid back down in the bed together. She moved closer to me and put her arm across my chest. I slid my hand down her back towards her waist, but just before I could grab the promising parts she struck me on the forehead.

"Behave." She said sternly.

"Sorry. I'm tired I wasn't thinking clearly." I said with false innocence.

"Yeah right, now shut up and go back to sleep."

"Ok. Oh hey, rocket launch is…well since it's already the next day I should say tomorrow right? It's the last satellite that's going up for this communication whatever network shit?"

"Yeah, this is HCLI's, or rather Koko's dad's crown jewel that she and Kasper have been developing for the last few years."

"Right, ok night." I kissed her on the top of her head and shut my eyes.

As I tried to get back to sleep I still couldn't shake the feeling about something happening. It didn't matter whether it was good, bad, or indifferent. But I'd worry about that later, I found it more bizarre that HCLI was pumping a lot of money and resources into this satellite project. Apparently from what Koko told me on our flight to New Guinea she had launched over one hundred satellites that were going to make some sort of revolutionary type of communications and logistics system. Naturally she said that she couldn't tell me the details of the project and that Kasper was going to explain what it was publically in a few months. My guess was that HCLI was just trying to find a new way to expand its market into other fields besides weapons and maritime shipping. People could already speak to each other around the world in real time already. To me this just sounded like whenever the next new and improved smart phone came out. When they first entered the market they were huge, they were literally computers that fit in the palm of your hand. Now everyone just went crazy when the next one came out but they were only just slightly better. It looked like it would be a while until we started to speak to holograms or have a screen pop up out of our hands.

Well whatever was coming up was the next project that the job was gonna be a part of. Just had to knuckle up and keep an eye out for potential threats as usual. However I had to also look for threats from the inside as well. The crew didn't really care how each other went about their business on their off time or when it came to relationships. A prime example would have been Lehm and Chiquita but that was a while ago. They didn't say it or show it up close but I could tell from a distance each one of the guys were beyond envious that Sophia and I found comfort in each other. They probably hated my guts for most definitely being able to see and experience what they could only dream about. And considering the fact that we were lying in my bed next to each other naked they had every right to be furious. But I didn't give a shit what they thought. I learned to stop caring what people thought about me a long time ago.

 _I said it before and I'll say it again. My life has turned into one hell of an adventure. I wonder what's gonna happen next?_


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Trust**

 **September 5** **th** **2010 0545 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Fruition**_ **, The Solomon Sea**

Four hundred and five pounds. When you're going to put that much over your chest for a bench press you not only gotta be confident in yourself but believe that you can go further. But this morning I wasn't gonna go overboard because I had to cook breakfast for everyone later. This morning's request was blueberry waffles and the amount I had to prepare would take a while to cook. That also didn't mean I wasn't gonna practice proper lifting etiquette safety so Lutz was my spotter. I really didn't feel like taking the chance of crushing my collar bone if my grip slipped.

"You sure about this man? If the scar on your chest rips open it's on you." Lutz said doubting my strength again. So I bit back in my natural sarcasm.

"Just make sure I don't get crushed and maybe someday you'll grow up to be big and strong like me."

Surprisingly it was just me, Lutz, Lehm, and Sophia in the gym today. Everyone else decided to sleep in, only real thing that was important today was that we all made sure the rocket carrying the last satellite got off the launch pad. Sophia was doing her calisthenics and Lehm was on the treadmill, going quite fast from what I could tell. Age didn't hinder his skills as a Delta Operator or slow him down. But it did make him lazy and wanting to be more comfortable all the time. Cause he always ran inside in the air conditioned gym and never outside on the deck. But I would poke fun at him later, I motioned to Lutz that I was ready. After getting a firm grip on the bar and some rapid breathing I began, Lutz timing me on when to push.

"Down!" Three seconds. "Up!"

I didn't expect him to keep a firm grip or resist on the bar. Probably wanted to see how far I could go.

"Down!" Four seconds. "Up!"

This was normally the part where I began to struggle a little bit. When I put more weight on when I was reaching the end of my exercise. But I knew the routine, and I also knew that I didn't start out as big as I was.

"Down!" Three seconds. "Up!"

When I first came into my teens I was taller than most boys, but I was unnaturally skinny. The good thing about it though was that my dad had a lot of friends that were more fit that most of the regular soldiers on whichever base I lived on at the time. They told me that there was really only one way to get larger and it wasn't just exercise, you had to eat a lot.

"Down!" Five seconds. "Up!"

It was during that time that I started reading a lot of cook books. Most people like to claim that making food is an art but that's only if you're going to culinary school. Anybody can cook anything, all you really have to do is just follow the recipe and the directions on how to make it. Naturally over time it just becomes instinct if you do it enough. Same thing with my training, but my young foolhardy mind at the time wasn't really registering the fact that I was becoming increasingly good at killing people. What was worse was that I was choosing all of this, I could have been anything else.

"Down!" Three seconds. "Up!"

I then placed the bar on the rack, took a deep breath and blew air. I always did find military life fascinating and I knew from personal experience that it's not what Hollywood, TV, or video games make it out to be. The comradery, excitement, travel, and event's you witness are only seen by few. But unfortunately I viewed all the bad ones in one gulp and my head couldn't handle the stress.

"What's up man? How come you're done after only five? Valmet take too much out of you last night?" He said slyly.

"Want me to call her over so you can ask her that?" I said in a tone telling him to watch it.

Upon hearing that, Karl then remembered that there were a few things in which his sarcasm wouldn't be seen in that light at all. Plus he was also a fan of breathing so he decided to shut up and change the topic as quick as possible.

"Uhh…anyway I think that's enough for this morning. Rocket launch is gonna be at 1000 hours and I wanna make sure I get breakfast before then."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you'll get your waffles. Alright! Anyone needs me I'll be in the galley."

Lehm then got off the treadmill and wiped his face off with a towel. I found it truly bizarre that he could sound non-chalant and authoritative at the same time.

"Wash your ass first. And put one of those damn nets on this time! I'm not picking out another long hair in my food again."

As I heard Sophia and Karl bust out laughing I only decide to counter when I was about to walk out the door.

"At least mine is still its natural color." And slammed the door behind me.

 **0900 Hours**

 **One Mile From The Zavare Launch Platform, 1 Hour Untill Lift Off**

The plane ride from South Africa to Papa New Guinea for Karen Low was not a particularly enjoyable one. Neither was the current helicopter flight heading towards the _Fruition._ Although she hid her true expressions behind a face of calm and professional composure, inside she was a violent storm. Even though she knew that her new employer Professor Amada had close ties to Koko Hekmatyar she would not allow her personal feelings to get in the way of business. Professor Amada had taken her in without hesitation when she was literally on the edge of having absolutely nothing. She would not jeopardize the only solid foundation she stood upon and be cast out into the streets again. In the purest definition of war soldiers on both sides act with professionalism and never made it personal, the man or woman on the opposing force was doing the same job they were and were simply on opposite sides. Reality though tended to disagree. Two of HCLI's bodyguards who had humiliated Tashinhai over and over again decided to go on a killing spree and kill her mentor. She then stared at the _Fruition_ with a menacing scowl, Dr. Miami was quick to set her tone right.

"Karen calm down. Remember you said you would be on your best behavior. I know I didn't tell you until the last minute on who we would be meeting out here and I can understand you're upset. But think of this as a way to make up for any bad blood that's happened. To be the bigger woman. When I told you the world was going to change, I meant that. It wasn't an exaggeration."

Karen was bewildered to believe that Amada was speaking as matter of fact. She wasn't able to figure out all the details but she and Koko were working on something. They were so secret that they didn't tell anyone, not even their closest friends or even their head offices. There was a lot of money and products shifting around and no one knew what for. But above all else she had a job to do, that was to assist her new boss in any way possible.

"I know Professor, I haven't forgotten. I swear I won't try anything reckless."

The helicopter then began to descend and land on the _Fruition's_ helipad. Dr. Miami leapt out first all too eager to see her friend again followed by Low. Koko was already aware that Minami had arrived and decided to meet her halfway on deck with Lehm and Wiley in tow. However when she saw who was following the good doctor she froze in place but that iconic smile of hers still remained fixed on her face. Wiley then glanced at Lehm, and with a nod and look that was built up upon years of trust told him to not jump to conclusions. Koko then walked forward to greet her old friend and wanting to know why someone like Low was with her.

"So Minami, bad enough you show up at the last minute. But why did you decide to bring this outsider here? That's Karen Low."

"Relax it's all good Koko. She's one of my secretaries now, and I told her under no circumstances start any fights." She said waving it off.

"That doesn't mean that…OH SHIT!"

Koko then paled as she just realized that something couldn't be more obvious. He had told her all of the details of what happened in Ethiopia. There was no way he was going to let this slide by without consequence, this would be a repeat of what happened when Kasper came on board without him knowing only a hundred times worse.

"Lehm! Find or get a hold of Damien! Tell him DO NOT come up on deck for any reason!"

Lehm knew exactly what this was going to lead to and it will end horribly. As he turned around with his radio out to head back below deck, he didn't even make three steps to see that he was already too late. Damien was already on deck and out in front with the rest of the crew. His eyes widened in anger and shock, he could not believe that the one who shot both him and Valmet was still alive and on the ship. Lehm knew that Low wasn't going to do anything, but Damien was a different story. And he didn't think a rope and carabiner wrapping around his leg was going to stop him like last time. Lehm then got in a blocking stance and held out his hand motioning him to stop before he did anything reckless.

"Damien! STOP! Just listen to me! Don't do anything you're gonna regret! Koko-ARGH!"

Damien wasn't even listening to a word he said. He then sprinted forward so fast he seemed to have teleported as he knocked Lehm out of the way like a linebacker going through the offensive line to tackle the quarterback. His target was Karen Low and with an animalistic snarl he slammed into her before she could even react, spearing her back a good ten feet. Her injuries from a few weeks prior and her shattered shoulder from Damien's pistol caused immense pain and she couldn't fight back. Getting into a dominant mount Damien held her by the throat and delivered three punches to the face breaking and bloodying her nose. Then using his ridiculous strength took Low by the throat and lifted her up and slammed her against the decks wall, holding Low a good two and a half feet off the ground. Struggling to break free of Damien's vice like grip she then saw him reach behind his back and pulled out his .45. It was the first time in her life that she was truly terrified. He was going to kill her. With coldness in his eyes and hatred in his voice, Damien was going to bid her, her final farewell.

"Go back to hell, AND STAY THERE!"

Damien pulled the hammer back and aimed it right at her forehead. Karen believed that this was her end and she shut her eyes.

 _ **Bang!**_

Her ears were ringing but she was still breathing. She then slowly opened her eyes and saw Koko struggling with Damien's arm. She had saved her life, but she wondered for how much longer.

"Damn it Koko! Let go of me!"

"You stop this shit right now Damien! Enough!"

Koko was struggling trying to take Damien's gun from him. Her thumb was preventing the hammer from striking the firing pin. Damien was then wrestling with holding Karen against the wall and trying to free his hand from Koko's grip. He knew he wouldn't hit her out of anger but he wouldn't just let something like what Karen did just be known as water under the bridge. She wasn't Kasper, and he wasn't the only one she tried to kill. Knowing that Damien had clearly blown a head gasket the whole crew was ready to pounce on him but after they came into the gaze of one of the two stares from ice blue eyes filled with violence told them without speaking that she would get him to stop. Koko knew there was no way in hell she could match Damien's strength and simply forced her way in front of him so that he wouldn't get a clean shot at Low still gripping his pistol.

"I'm not going to ask twice Damien, calm down!"

"You know exactly who the fuck this is! WHY THE FUCK IS SHE HERE!?"

"I swear! I didn't know! I only found out about this not more than five minutes ago when Minami came on board the ship. I DIDN'T KNOW!"

Damien then looked to her and then back to Low. She then realized why this man had been designated "Nightmare" by the CIA. While mercenaries are also known as the dogs of war, he was more along the lines of an enraged wolf waiting to sink its teeth into its next meal. Now beginning to become frustrated of trying to bat off Koko he took his grip off of Low's neck and she dropped to the deck gasping for air. He then took Koko's hands off of his .45 but she immediately slapped him across the face and then stood in front of Low. She was violently coughing after finally being able to breathe again. Koko then looked up to Damien as if it was some bizarre version of David and Goliath. If anyone on Earth was truly not afraid of Damien it was Koko.

"Listen to me. I said I didn't know and it was Minami that brought her on board. I trust her judgement more than anyone and as of this moment a lot more than yours right now."

Damien then shot a dark stare at the professor and then back to Koko. He knew he didn't have to have credentials to figure out that there was a difference between being educated and being smart.

"Well then she needs to readjust her judgement cause she's a fucking idiot."

Without warning came another slap to the face. But this one came with more force and with the form of a claw causing him to bleed from Koko's finger nails. This time Damien was facing the crew, each one of them shared the same look. Pleading with him not to do anything drastic cause they would shoot him if necessary. He then let an annoyed sigh through his nose and turned to face Koko again. He still hadn't lost the grip on his pistol.

"I think it's about time that you finally realize that in this line of work that yesterday's enemy can become tomorrow's friend. Not everything in this world is black and white. I've known Minami for a very long time, she would never be so careless. You said you trusted me, that you didn't hate me, and that you were glad to be a part of my family. Was that all a lie?"

A very bold dare then hit Damien hard. His angry scowl remained but his eye's widened at the dare. He then remembered that even with all of the tragedy, all of the violence, all of the betrayals he made in his life Koko reached in and took his hand to lead him back on a proper path without hesitation. But he was truly torn in between what he wanted to do and should do.

"This isn't like what happened with your brother. She deliberately tried to kill me _and_ Sophia. Do you really expect me to just act as the better man and forget about what she did?"

"No I do not. But I'm not letting you fall back into becoming a murderer."

Suddenly Damien's thoughts came racing back to when he fought Low's unit in South Africa. He told her straight up that he wasn't a murderer anymore. But he then remembered Sophia, her gripping him tightly as she was shielding him from being shot any further by Low. The tear running coming from her eye, and the expression of sadness that he thought was not possible to be formed on her face. He couldn't just let what happened be passed along as uninfluential. He knew what Low had done to her and he shifted his eyes over to her.

"She was crying Koko, seeing that hurt so badly that it was like torture."

Koko then blinked slowly. "I know. I can't even begin to fathom what you felt. But what would hurt me and everyone else even more is that if you just kill Karen you will also kill any further chance at redemption for your past sins. If you kill her, you will have lost that. You would continue on in that endless loop of violence. Do not think that I won't discard you. This is your only chance, let her live and I will let you be the first one to see the new world I was telling you about. I will help you move past your terrible deeds. Kill her, and you will be on your own, forever."

The silence that followed was so loud that it was deafening. Damien knew that Koko was never the one to bluff. Even though she had great care for those close to her she also can and could be cold and ruthless, she never made exceptions to who it was. He still kept the grip tight on his .45 and his eyes then darted back and forth between Koko and Karen. He would either satisfy his rage or trust the instinct of the woman who had technically saved him from becoming worse than he once was. Kill the one who made Sophia cry or kill his chance and redeeming himself. He couldn't make a choice, the stress was causing him to sweat so much he looked like he just came in from the rain and shake like he was about to explode.

He wasn't the only one going through extreme stress, seeing her lover in such a state was unbearable. Even though she hated Karen Low just as much as he did she knew Koko was right. Valmet saw Damien grow so close to not only her but the rest of the crew as well. She wanted to make sure that he didn't fall back into his old self again as well.

"Damien please, don't do this. You're better than this."

Damien then stopped shaking and looked at Valmet. She then walked past the crew toward him with the authority in which she honed in when she was still a Major in the Finnish Army. But the tone she spoke to him with was a care for his well-being.

"I wanna rip this bitch's head off just as bad as you do but she failed to kill us both. Why would you even bother wasting your full potential on someone that's completely below you? Why would you want to ruin your chance at having a better life again? And if that's not enough, then I'm asking you to trust Koko as I trusted you."

Damien then looked at her as if she was disappointed in him. He knew that while he was only shot, she was nearly killed by Low. But if she could move past it, then so could he. He also then realized that once again, that frightening anger of his had taken him over and brought out the side of him than no one wanted to see. Cursing himself for it, he knew what he had to do, be practical. He did not have to go that far in order to get Karen to realize that she will never make an extremely poor choice of shooting him or Valmet or any of his friends again. After a few moments of silence, Damien finally blinked. He put his thumb on the hammer of his .45 and let it ride forward. He then tucked his pistol back in his holster behind his waist and everyone became less tense.

He then felt his left cheek and the blood was still there but not running. He then looked at Koko, this time she wasn't smiling. But had the look of authority, the authority of a woman that was in charge of distributing weapons of all types across two continents. Taking charge and making sure one of her subordinates didn't go haywire.

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry Koko." Damien said neutrally.

Koko then looked up to him with what she expected out of him, professionalism, and he did just that. Damien then looked over to Low, still on the floor of the deck breathing deeply. He approached her with a neutral look on his face and held out his hand to help her off the ground. She wiped the blood off from under her nose and looked at him with a wary disgust but Damien held firm in his pose. She wouldn't have accepted any apology he gave but she gave Dr. Miami her word that she wouldn't start anything. Damien was the aggressor and it would all fall on him. She took his hand and he brought her up to her feet.

As she was brought up she continued to look at him with disgust. But as she was about to take her hand away Damien did not let go. In fact his grip tightened even further, as Karen looked down his large, calloused, and scarred up hand that had been in hundreds of fights. She then looked back at his neutral face but then she realized that he was holding on to her non injured side. Her eyes slowly widened in fear as she also realized what she led herself into, a trap.

He didn't need to go so far as killing her, he would make her realize that. With reactionary instinct Damien then lifted her arm over her head, spun it around so that her elbow was facing up, and without emotion drove his large arm down onto her elbow bending it in a way it wasn't supposed to and broke it with a stomach churning snap. It was a delayed reaction, but after two seconds Karen Low howled in excruciating pain and fell back to the deck on her knees gripping her shattered arm and screaming in Chinese.

Unable to believe what had just happened, Koko screamed at Damien in a way she hadn't done to him before but the moment he was done with his deed he was already walking off and not looking back at anyone.

"DAMIEN-!"

"I'll be below deck. I'll be out when _I_ think I'm ready." Damien said with growl cutting her off.

As Valmet went to go and get him Koko held up her hand to stop with a quick snap. As she looked at her she saw that her eyes were twitching and biting her lip so hard that it was bleeding. This was the first time she had ever seen Koko it an absolute fit of visible anger. She hardly if ever lost her temper. Furious, Koko then took off her shoe and threw it at him, he didn't even react to it hitting him. But she would deal with him later. Right now Karen needed a doctor.

"Mao! Wiley! Get her to sick bay! Now!"

 **0950 Hours**

The crew then gathered on deck after looking around the entire ship trying to find Damien to see if he cooled down or not. It was almost time to witness the final launch of HCLI's most prized project with several years of development and everyone gathered on deck. But it was hard to get excited knowing what everyone had witnessed an hour earlier, Damien's bad side when he was angry.

Even though it was the final satellite to go into orbit the moment was ruined with Damien's mad outburst earlier. He only said that he was going to be below deck, but he didn't say where and he was extremely good at hiding when he wanted to be left alone. After Karen's arm was painfully realigned and put in a brace until she could go to the hospital on one of the islands, Valmet immediately went to her and Damien's cabin. His phone and radio was deliberately placed on his desk in a way that anyone would see it. She knew that her and the crew would have to look through the whole ship. She then noticed that his cigar humidor was slightly off the shelf where his bottles of expensive high proof liquor was. He only had cigars when there was something to celebrate about, not when he was stressed. Everyone gave up after half an hour and decided to just leave him be for now. Frustrated on being unable to get him to come to his senses and talk to her she looked at Koko to try and bring her spirits up.

"I'm sorry Koko. I promise I'll beat some sense and logic into him whenever he decides to come out of whatever hole he's in."

She didn't show it but inside she was stressed out beyond belief. She knew Valmet was fairing no better either considering how close the two had gotten within the last month. What was even worse was that this had been the first time any of them had seen Damien when he was truly angry. It wasn't a pretty sight, considering how he wouldn't even hesitate to run through Lehm or even scream at her in the way he did. He was like a totally different person. It was best if he just got the stress out of his system his own way and she would remind him again why she took him on board with her crew.

"Just leave him be for now. When we first met I told him that there was never any ice I couldn't melt and it won't start now. But that is for later, right now it's almost time for launch. Go and watch it with the rest, I need to talk to Minami."

"Ok I'll send her over."

 **1952 Hours**

 **CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia**

Since mass invasion of privacy wasn't new in the CIA's line of work. They managed to hack into HCLI's live feed of their final satellite launch to their home office in Switzerland without issue. At the head of this late night meeting with several other branch directors was George Black. Knowing what kind of system HCLI was constructing over the last two years he made it a priority that not only the CIA but the entire United States Military would piggy back off of it he would get them dancing to his tune to ensure that the United States stayed on top as the dominant super power of the world.

"Only a few more minutes until launch. Does anybody know if we have any field agents that are near Koko?"

 _Other than the obvious one._

"Uhh...we do but he's not the one that you would like to have near her Bookman." One of the directors mentioned.

 **0155 Hours**

 **Hekmatyar & Chevalier Logistics Incorporated Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland**

He had decided to sleep in his office for the night. Since he wanted to make sure that the final rocket for his grand project got off the ground and into orbit he was only going to make sure of it and then wake up a little later than usual when he went to work. As he took off his tie and loosened the collar of his shirt, Floyd Hekmatyar breathed a sigh of relief that the most time consuming part of his new global distribution network was finally completed. All that was left was for his son Kasper to make it known to the public in a few months and his daughter Koko to finish assembling the technical aspects. His only regret was that he wasn't able to be there for the final launch.

"Well Koko dear your hard work has finally paid off. I look forward into how much of an improvement this will make not only to the company but to the world as well."

 **0957 Hours**

While everyone was on the railing on the ship looking at the launch platform Koko and Minami were behind them leaning on the walls on the deck. Minami then lit up her next cigarette with her torch that was normally used for lighting cigars. Her expression remained as a carefree professional but Koko had to let her know what was important before the launch.

"I thought that you should know that Karen will need a doctor but she's alright. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am. What Damien did was unforgivable. I may take it easy on everyone and him especially but I won't let him just pretend he can do whatever the hell he wants around me."

"Koko it's ok. He didn't kill her, he just wanted blow off some steam. I also have a feeling that he had a justifiable reason. From what you've told me about him he would never lose his composure like that. But what did he mean when he said, 'She made her cry'?"

Koko hesitated for a moment and answered as matter of fact.

"After Valmet killed Chan she and Damien were about to escape until Low found them both. She shot Damien first but Valmet jumped in front of him and saved his life."

Minami then let out a puff from her cigarette.

"I see. I can understand why he would be so upset, I thought they were both rivals panning for your affection?"

Koko then adjusted her hat while looking down at the deck in her usual carefree smile. She was almost embarrassed to admit it but everyone on the crew already knew. She just didn't tell Minami yet.

"Well let's just say that not long after our most recent trip to Africa, Damien and Valmet…advanced together."

"Really? How much?" Doctor Miami said turning to her with eager interest.

Koko's response wasn't words but a gesture. A gesture of holding one hand as a circle and poking her index finger on the other one through it several times. Minami then squealed with excitement.

"Oh my gosh they're a couple!? They're both into tattoos so did they decide to get matching ones? Never mind that, when is the big day!? Have they decided on baby names!? Have they decided who will work and who will run the house!?"

Koko then grabbed her shoulders. She knew once Minami started she wouldn't stop.

"Calm down they haven't gotten that far yet. Plus they both place business ahead of personal time before anything else."

"So they're nothing like what Lehm and Chiquita were?"

She chuckled. "No not that bad."

Dr. Miami then checked her watch. "One minute to lift off. You know not to change the subject but I'm surprised your old man didn't travel out here to see the final launch. This is a very big deal, I mean after all the work you've done he could at least say congratulations or give you a pat on the back, anything."

Koko let out an annoyed sigh. "Let me tell you something that pretty much sums up Floyd. He doesn't care how the meat is raised, butchered, and made into the perfect type of sausage. Only when it a turns a profit will he show even the slightest hint of satisfaction."

Knowing that was the only time she would mention anything about her father, Professor Amada quickly changed the subject again.

"Supplementary navigation satellites, a private enterprise allowed to oversee global distribution under the ultimate pretext, helping the United States. The current GPS system uses twenty four satellites and six orbits but we can supplement that five times over. It will give us full control over the world's distribution networks, not to mention transmissions and communications."

Koko knew she was praising her on how much this all meant but this was only just a drop in the ocean compared to what Koko's real plan was.

"You know that that type of flattery means nothing to me Minami."

"Hmm. Flattery withdrawn." She then looked at her watch again. "Oop! Here it goes!"

 **2000 Hours**

As all eyes were glued to the monitors Bookman knew that the launch had went off without a hitch and it was now the critical moment for "Operation Under Shaft" to begin its full momentum. Knowing he couldn't have any bumps in the road. He decided to make the call to the one that he hoped wouldn't gum up the works. He picked up his phone and dialed in his number.

"Of all people why did it have to be him that wanted to stop Hekmatyar?"

The phone rang only twice and he picked up.

" _Yeah?"_

"Shattzberg this is Chief Black."

" _Director Black it's been a long time. What can I do for you?"_ Scarecrow said in his arrogant tone.

"Listen Agent Scarecrow I know you're in the Solomon's. I don't give a crap if you wanna follow Amada or Hekmatyar. But I warn you "Under Shaft" is still in full effect, do not get in our way."

" _What's that!? I can barely hear you Bookie! This rocket launch is pretty loud!"_

Bookman then hung up his phone calmly but clearly frustrated.

"Damn arrogant punk. I don't even know what he's doing is more stupid, trying to get in the way of this operation or not realizing he's about to stomp on the tail of a tiger."

 **1037 Hours**

I still couldn't get over the fact that that bitch had survived. Or even that Koko went off on me in the way she did. How in the hell else was I supposed to react? Low almost killed me and Sophia, I know that in this kind of life there is the grey area but this wasn't one of those cases. I did however go a little overboard when I ran through Lehm, but now I would have to deal with Sophia's bullshit too whenever I was done feeling sorry for myself.

The rocket launch had been over for a while and I was still in the cargo holds sitting down leaning back against a metal container that was loaded with Hellfire anti-tank missiles. The hold was dimly lit and other smell besides the metal and salt water residue was the smoke of my Cuban cigar. It was my last one that I wanted to save at least until Thanksgiving but I was so frustrated that I just grabbed whatever was in my humidor and made for the holds. It also wasn't even making me feel any better, looked like smoking wasn't a way I could relieve my stress.

 _At least I got the chance to snap that cunt's arm like a fucking twig. She at least knows she can't beat me in a straight up fist fight from now on._

Even though that that was one major problem off of my list, I still couldn't help but think in what Koko said to me. That she would just ditch me and forget that I even existed. I wondered if she would really do that, despite all the times I've saved her life. The biggest question was what in the hell was this new world thing she was so focused on. Even more so how could she help me redeem myself and move on with my life. It's not like I can just erase the past.

Speaking of time I forgot how long I was down here, I was taking very slow drags from the Cuban and with its slow burn I wasn't even halfway done with it yet. As I took another slow puff I heard the ships bullhorn sound off, looked like Koko was tired of waiting and wanted to send a message to me.

" _Minami and Karen left over an hour ago Damien. Thanks to you she only was able to stay long enough to witness the launch and the moment that was done she had to take Karen to one of the hospital's in the Solomon's so she can get a cast on."_

Drag, blow, didn't give a shit.

" _Even though you didn't kill her, don't think I didn't realize that you took advantage of my words by breaking her arm. For you I may be the most generous to out of all of the crew but never take advantage of me like that again. That said I hated the way you acted, and I'm not what you would say angry at you, more along the lines of disappointed. That is not the man who is one of the best parts of this team. That's not the man I want to help get past his nightmares. That's also not the man who cares about his friends."_

Deep drag, exhale, frustrated groan.

" _When you're done sitting in whatever protective bubble you're in I need you in the conference room at one o'clock. We'll be sailing to Port Moresby and then back to Europe in a few days. Blow me off and I'll send Valmet."_

Slow drag, calm blow. "Goddamnit."

 **1315 Hours**

I didn't have much of a choice but to go. However I couldn't just walk in all pissed off, I wanted to make sure that I was calm before I did anything else. When I opened the door, everyone's eyes immediately shifted to me. A familiar sight, the same one that happened to me earlier in the year but instead of bewilderment it was agitation. I knew that if I was to get past this without getting ragged on later, I would have to let any of them speak first. I walked to the only open seat at the other end of the table avoiding eye contact along the way. As I sat down the first one I looked at was Koko, still clearly pissed that I hurt someone that truly deserved it. Which to me made absolutely no goddamn sense, but I held my tongue until one of us spoke.

It took longer than I thought though. Lehm then looked to her and she looked back, they both must have shared the same thought that I wasn't going to budge. She then stood up from the table and addressed with calm authority.

"We will be making a few stops in Europe for the next week and we'll need to split three of the crew to procure a smaller but much more important transaction in France. The rest of us will be delivering five trucks worth of guns and mortars along with APC's to Bosnia & Herzegovina. R, I'm gonna put you in charge of the package delivery, pick two who you wanna take."

"Ok, before I do what are we delivering?"

"You'll get the details just before flying out to Marseille."

R then looked around the table, glancing at me several times.

"You know I'll take Damien and Lutz. Probably be better if we ease ourselves back into work. What do you say guys?"

"I'm game. Damien?"

I took a deep breath and then cracked my neck.

"Back to the grindstone."

 _This has to be the most neutral and professional meeting I've been in yet. Why the hell's everyone mad at me? I just put someone in their place, she did try to kill me._


	28. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: The adventures continue and so do the views so keep it up and let others know. I've also said it before, I'm willing to hear anyone's criticism. I got thick skin so don't worry about it. But I think all of us here can agree if you go off on a tangent with nothing but profanity and statements you can't back up then you've lost your argument entirely.**

 **Luffyx: I see that almost WAY too often there's a lot of stuff on here that dives too deep into the sexual aspects in a story. I myself see that more often than not that it gives FF a bad rep. That it's just a bunch of nerds, weirdo's and virgins writing their own perverted fantasies and all of the other stuff that's generally good reading material gets pushed aside and ignored. I'm not here to write smut, but that doesn't mean I won't dive away from aspects that make us human.**

 **CarlosInferno: Sorry to break it to you but I've never heard of it or even want to do it. I honestly have stopped playing the COD series for the past several years because the developers just kept releasing the same thing over and over again and it turned into a bloated runaway franchise that the real fans and legit multiplayer's abandoned. Perfect example was Infinity War's 50% drop in sales with a massive spike in returns and that's not including the bait and switch tactic they used with Modern Warfare making it unable to be purchased unless you bought Infinity War too. I will say though that I think they've learned there lesson because I was looking deeply into WWII and it looks solid, WAY more solid than all their future war crap. I hope that they've learned their lesson but I remain skeptical.**

 **Chapter 27: Product Security**

 **September 9** **th** **2010 1045 Hours**

 **The Old Port, Marseille, France**

The plane ride to France with Renato and Karl was unexpectedly silent. It was as if they were channeling Koko's frustration and it was still being taken out on me. I did what she said and I didn't kill Low. Honestly it wasn't like what Sophia did when she just up and left us without telling anybody. How the hell was what she did different from what I did? All I did was just let Low know not to fuck with us ever again.

 _Speaking of which, she didn't even say goodbye when we got on our planes. Guess this is what you would call our first argument._

As we were setting up the plans for the drop at an open air café near the Old Port we were going to do later this afternoon. I had to break the unnecessary silence that was going on since we split from the crew. Only thing we did talk about was about the deal and the product we were getting. We would meet the HCLI courier at an outdoor market and he would sign over to me a suitcase that had five newly designed microchips that would see through any type of countermeasure a plane would use when avoiding a missile. A rather rare product in which Koko had managed to procure on short notice and HCLI had intercepted them from their maker in Japan. That however was it, no talk about taking in the sights, no bar hopping in the two days we had before the deal, hell I couldn't even get them excited for when I managed to make some duck glazed in raspberry sauce.

"Ok guys before we execute this I wanna know for sure if you have my back. I mean for God's sakes this silent treatment you two have been giving me has kinda run its course. You both know what Low did to me and Valmet. Are you both seriously telling me you wouldn't have done the same?"

As they both looked to me when I got their attention they both looked to each other and Lutz went first.

"It's not what you did was the problem. It was how you acted."

"There was a reason why Koko chose each of us to be her personal guards Damien. It's cause of how well we function together not only as a unit but as a family." R followed up.

"Believe me when I say that I can understand why you wanted to personally rip Low limb from limb. But a family never lets their kin lose their sense of self."

"And unlike some of our buyers we are not thugs. All of us were trained professionals, thugs just get by on how much strength they have and they usually they don't last very long in this business."

"I've seen more than my fair share of thugs through my scope. Both from when I was with GSG-9 and with Koko. I can tell when some are scared out of their mind and don't want to die, to those that were truly mad killers. You aren't one of them, but I'm going to ask that question she said to you again. Was it all a lie?"

Only then I realized the weight that question carried. I had managed to purge a lot of hatred and anger from working with Koko and then all of a sudden it bursted out of me like it was lying in wait for its next victim to pass by. But then I realized why I acted in why I did it, the reason couldn't have been more obvious. I had another that I was going to protect and care for, and I didn't want to take the risk of being caught off guard.

"It wasn't Karl, but I'll tell you my closest guess as to why I acted that way. You can choose whether or not to believe me."

"Valmet?" He answered as if he already knew.

"Yes. She saved my life, and I will make sure that NOBODY makes her cry again."

R and Lutz then looked at each other, smirked and then looked back to me.

"You know in the last two years that I've worked with this crew, Valmet had always been the one that we had a bit of a problem trying to control but Koko always calmed her down. You however must be special." R said.

"You probably noticed but with the way she forged herself into a throat slitting killer she never really was one that wanted to be seen as a woman or even take any interest in men." Lutz said in his jackass tone.

"I'm not blind man, but despite the way she acts around Koko she never really said specifically that she went for the other team." I then checked my watch. "But we're getting off topic here, deal's in an hour and we gotta drop you off at your perch."

The three of us stood up at once from the table and headed out. I did however take one last panoramic picture of the Old Port, but as we were leaving I saw a man out of the corner of my eye staring directly ahead with his phone to his ear. His stare though was one I had seen many times over, when someone was eavesdropping on you. But there were too many people and it was too public to just go over and "figure out" why he was so serious. But then again he could have been a guy that had a bad day.

 **1200 Hours**

 **Cremone Market**

The courier said to meet me at precisely this time. In between the old wooden stands between the bread and the spice sellers. Drops and deals were normally the most nerve wracking for me, there was always the fifty fifty chance that they buyer or the seller would get greedy or too nervous and things can go south very quick. I was kinda concerned that we were doing this out in public. In front of people who were going about their daily lives, not realizing that I was about to take the responsibility of caring for some tech that was worth about $1.5 million.

"Don't even think about pacing Damien. You know that will make you look suspicious."R said through my small earpiece.

"This isn't my first drop man, I ain't moving. But that courier should have been here by now." I said as looked in his direction across the street but not directly at him.

"Well you can't really drive fast on these streets. Plus we don't wanna draw attention from the cops." Lutz said as he had over-watch on us from a few blocks up with his sniper rifle.

"Plus were picking up a package from Koko that was already paid for. We just gotta hold it until Koko and the rest get back from Bosnia. It figures that Koko chose me to do this little transaction since I used to do it a lot, but I also could have been the guide over there. I know that place in and out even after they rebuilt everything."

That was something rather new to me. It also let me know that R was much older than he looked. I knew that the Bersaglieri were often part of UN Peacekeepers. But what a whole lot of people don't know is that they were some of the best shock troops for the Italian Army. They took part in Lebanon and the Somali Civil War prior to Bosnia and were also a part of the Coalition in OIF.

"Wait a minute, you fought in the Bosnian War?" I asked.

"Yep, 1st Bersaglieri Regiment. I was known as Sergeant Socci back then. My battalion commander at the time recommended me to help do some intel gathering on some of the rather unpleasant Serb field commanders in the Bosnian War. I went out, interviewed some of the locals in plain clothes, and most of what I got went to the American's. Who obviously along with NATO wanted to make sure Milosevic didn't get away with his shit."

Just then a thought came running through my head. It could have been a coincidence but then again military life is both a large and small world at the same time.

"Hey, just curious, you wouldn't have happened to have done some work with US Special Forces did you?"

There was a little bit of hesitation before he answered.

"No. I uhh…well this is a little embarrassing Damien but the intel I was handing over to the American's was strictly to the CIA. It was over fifteen years ago and I've been retired from the Italian Army for now going on ten. I never once met with US Military other than when I was on my regular peace keeping ops. Why do you ask?"

He said it rather carefully, knowing my history with them. But this was when it was also I time when I was only a kid and never even considered being part of the Army yet.

"First off you can calm down, you were doing your job back then. And second, my dad was out there during that time too. He told me he was essentially going hunting, it was the guys up top that were orchestrating all of these massacres and wanted to be tried by world. The guys that were pulling the triggers though, were considered expendable. He told me that after he came home."

"Why'd he tell you that? Better question how old were you at the time?"

"Ten, plus this was also during the time my mother died. So when he came home we just talked about anything. He wanted to get his mind off of the stress that he had to go off to fight upon losing my mom at the same time. There was a lot of things he told both of us, and not all of it was what he wanted to tell a chaplain."

R sighed over the net. "I'm sorry Damien, I bet it wasn't easy growing up."

"Mine was no different from any other American boy. Too bad that later it decided to turn into shit."

"Well it's not that as of this moment, I got your back."

Lutz then came on the horn.

"Sorry to interrupt your bromance moment but I see the courier heading to you Damien."

"Where?"

"Your nine. But somethings off."

"What's going on?" R asked.

"This was supposed to be a one on one transaction. They're not really hiding that well but the guy with the case has four others with him and they're splitting apart taking different positions along the street. They're all dressed in rather plain clothes but they are anything but that. It's way too much security for a couple of chips."

My instinct was kicking in again. Very discreetly I put my hand behind my back and flipped the safe off on my .45. If this was going to be a shootout it was gonna be a bad place for it as there were people everywhere. I then got a clear picture of the man coming towards me. Around six feet tall, raggy blonde hair, brown eyes, and a scar on his lip. It was not one I wanted to see, one where money was the only thing he trusted. Where Koko had rival's in her business, technically so did I. But I never gave a shit if they saw me as one or not. I just did my job and didn't care.

"Lutz, if things go south target the guy coming towards me with the case."

"Whoa hold up Damien what's going on?"

"These guys are NOT HCLI. R, is that the case?"

"Yeah the electronic lock is the same. Whoever these guys are they couldn't have just come up with something like this on the spot."

As R finished that last part the man stopped in front of me with the case. Andre Codeubuff, a man who I crossed paths with as a bodyguard during meetings of bosses in the French underworld more than once. His reputation for betrayal for the amount of money he was paid was well known. During one of those meetings of bosses, he beat his own client to death with an unopened bottle of wine and then took the payment of guy who ordered the hit three seconds later. Unlike me, he took pleasure in his job along with a crazy sense of politeness whenever he would introduce himself and then kill his target. But it was a ballsy move to try and do that to me in public.

"Bonjor Capitaine Andrushko. Combien de temps cela a-t-il dure?"

(Hello Captain Andrushko. How long has it been?)

"Not long enough, asshole." I said bluntly ignoring his faux politeness.

"Oh, allez. Ne me dites pas que votre francais a ete si mauvais?"

(Oh come on. Don't tell me your French has gotten that bad?)

"Oh, c'est toujours bon. Je ne l'utilise pas quand je sais que la mauvaise merde est sur le point de se produire. Vous n'etes pas le courier, ou est-il?"

(Oh it's still good. I just don't use it when I know bad shit is about to happen. You're not the courier, where is he?)

"Unfortunately he suffered a rather nasty case of lead poisoning. He had this case with him and a little scrap of paper to meet you here. Since I didn't feel like running the risk of breaking whatever is in here I feel that I should ask you on what is in here, if you can open it, and see what my bonus is."

 _Bonus? Oh shit._

Whoever he was working for obviously didn't care about what Koko was going to sell, he was after me. Then again I should have expected this. The fireworks tended to start whenever Koko and I were together not apart from one another. I should have been more weary. I just hope that he didn't finger R through the crowd.

"If I did I wouldn't tell you. I don't know how you managed to figure out where I was or why the hell you're doing this and I don't care. You've stolen something that belongs to my employer and I want it back."

"You always were the angry type. Always so quick to start a fight, but you're now at least willing to let people explain the situation before jumping into a fight. She must be something if you're that loyal-"

"I'm not gonna ask twice motherfucker." I cut him off.

Codeubuff shut his eyes, formed a smirk, took a deep breath and gave me a disappointed look. He must have thought I was alone, he didn't realize I had backup. But I was a little concerned that I didn't hear Lutz or R come on the net. I couldn't necessarily turn around though to see if he was gonna jump in, but what was worse was that I didn't want to start a firefight in the middle of a market place full of people.

"You may have your principles Andrushko but I have my practicality."

I then heard a distinct metallic click behind my back. As I turned around I recognized him, he was the straight faced guy I saw making the phone call earlier, that made six. He was standing at an angle on my left side so that he wouldn't hit Codeubuff. But a better spot for someone else to shoot.

"Either here or make it a little more private in one of the alleys. Either way you're not getting out of this one Capitaine."

 _Well, here we go again._

"The other one Lutz."

After a confused look from Codeubuff the suppressed shot of a Sig Sauer .338 went through the skull of the thug behind me, he collapsed and fell forward. Taking advantage of the shock I delivered an uppercut to Codeubuff's jaw sending his head into a whiplash and knocking him off his feet. He dropped the case and I grabbed it as panic was starting to fill the market. I then heard random handgun fire from the thugs as I bolted towards R, already having his pistol out and returning fire.

"R! Get outta there with Damien and the case, I'll keep these assholes occupied!" Lutz shouted on the radio.

"Got it! Damien who the hell was that?"

"Short version, another shmuck wants me dead. That's just a hired goon."

Like everyone else in the market we were running away from the gunfire and were bolting it through the alley's to our silver BMW. R hit the unlock button on his key's and hopped in the driver's seat while I slid across the hood and rode shotgun. As he turned over the engine and peeled out, I put the case in the back seat and reached into my bag in the back and pulled out my MP5. We then had to go and get Lutz from the apartment building he was in a few blocks away.

"Lutz! We're coming to get you! Get out of there!" I shouted with my finger pressed against my earpiece.

"Already moving! I'll be coming out the front door towards the main street!"

When the adrenaline starts pumping, minutes can seem like eternities. It was a very short drive to grab Lutz and I kept watch for any other hostiles along the way. We came to a screeching halt outside the front door but we were taking too much time.

"C'mon Lutz! Hurry up!" I said scanning the street and sidewalk.

"I'm coming! I see you guys!"

I saw Lutz running towards us with his bag that had his rifle in it but then I saw a black Jaguar sedan coming at us rather fast and out from the sun roof stood one of the thugs with a G36 rifle. I looked back to Lutz.

"GET DOWN!"

Lutz hit the sidewalk just as he came out of the door and the gunman opened fire obviously not caring what he was aiming at. Karl then scrambled into the back seat and Renato slammed on the gas. We had to shake them before we could head back to the safehouse. The tight roads and sharp turns of Marseille were not ideal for speed if you wanted to get away. That black Jaguar was still on us, Renato was doing his best to shake them while also not hitting any pedestrians in the process. The constant tight turns weren't helping and you didn't know what nasty surprise would be around the next corner, which was another black Jaguar. But I noticed someone in the front seat, Codeubuff. He must have really not wanted for me to get away.

We were caught in a pincer move and the other Jaguar was about to ram us. R then threw the BMW in reverse and sped backwards down a narrow alley towards the main street.

"Hang on guys!"

"Where the hell are you going!?" I shouted.

"We gotta get them away from the people! We'll head towards A50!"

"The freeway!? Are you nuts!?" Lutz said as he was loading up his MP5K.

He got to the main road and then floored it.

"Less chance of collateral. The cops are probably already on their way so we gotta put some distance between them and us. Just relax and trust me!"

"Trust you?! You drive worse than Ugo!"

"No way!?" R said being surprisingly glad.

As we then headed out of the city more gunfire opened up on us from behind, the two Jaguars were still on our tail and shot out the back window and glass sprayed everywhere. R then swerved the car around traffic taking out street signs and parking meters along the way. Lutz then returned fire from the back seat and I did as well from the passenger side. As we were weaving through cars trying to get away from them we were about to blow through an intersection I mentioned to R that the light was changing.

"That's a red light man!"

"It's green."

"IT'S RED!"

"IT'S GREEN!"

We blew through the light and two cars were coming at us on both sides. The one on our left turned left to avoid hitting us and the one our right drove straight into it with a crash. The car following it rear ended it. As R looked in the rear view mirror the look of "Oops" on his face he admitted that he should have slowed down.

"Ok fine it was red."

"It was yellow. And they're still chasing us!" Lutz said in his bitching tone.

After winding through a few more streets we got closer to the freeway. But then I heard what I didn't want to hear, police sirens. Two of them came up on our right and the freeway was in sight. However they immediately came under fire by Codeubuff and his thugs and veered off. Now two groups were chasing us as we got onto the onramp and R kicked into high gear.

"Ok tell me how we are gonna be able to get away from them now?" I asked in my classic sarcasm.

"Shut up Damien I'm working on it!"

"Urgh. Lutz how many clips you got left?"

"Plenty, but that won't matter if we can't get away from the police."

As I was weighing the options, there was always one that worked but I wondered how long we would have to wait until she got us out of this one.

"Not much of a choice. Call Koko, tell her things went FUBAR and we need help."

As Lutz made the call, we continued to speed down the highway veering around cars and trucks. I then noticed an oversize load up ahead with a yacht on the back of it. Then an idea came to me just as Lutz got off the phone.

"R, go faster. Get alongside that oversize. Lutz when we get close aim for the tires, straps, anything that will knock that sucker loose."

"Uhh Damien what are you planning?" Lutz asked and obviously scared of what I had in mind.

"Use that boat as a big wall for them to run into. It'll stall the cops as well."

R sighed deeply and pulled out his pistol. Looked like he wanted in on the action too.

"We're already this far ahead. Makes no sense to turn back now."

R then hit the metal and then led the two Jaguar's behind him behind the boat. Once we got to its end he slowed down slightly so that we could get our shot's in. I leaned out of the passenger window with the heavy wind blowing my long hair into a mess Lutz took aim from the back seat and R pointed his pistol while driving with one hand.

"NOW!"

As I shouted over the wind we lit up anything that would knock the boat loose. We then sped towards the truck pulling the trailer and aimed at the trailer hitch and brake hoses. The truck then began swerving violently and the yacht was leaning toward us. R got out of the way and speeded forward, the boat then fell off of the trailer and then skidded down the highway with sparks and debris flying everywhere. Codeubuff must have never seen it coming cause I looked back and saw a black Jaguar run directly into it and rolled end over end and side over side in a violent crash. Our victorious whooping and hollering was short lived however it was only one, the other one swerved around it and was coming up fast. I then noticed we weren't going as fast as we were earlier.

"Why are you slowing down?"

R pointed ahead. "Traffic. Some kind of construction."

I then quickly looked around for any openings. But then again we weren't really concerned about the traffic laws at this point. I motioned to R to make for the shoulder and the Jaguar followed us. I then noticed who was in the front seat, Codeubuff, the bastard didn't want to die so easy. As they followed us into a bit of a bottle neck as we were speeding past the other cars I motioned to Lutz to light the car up. We both smirked fiendishly and let him have it, or so I thought.

"Shit! Armored glass! Now what Damien?"

"R! Get off the shoulder! We'll have to ram him!"

Traffic then started to lighten up and he got off. He then hit the brakes to let Codeubuff get alongside us, and then he'd hit him with the PIT maneuver. If that didn't work, Lutz and I would blow out his tires. R made his move but the Jaguar just slammed back into us.

As R and the Jaguar kept hitting each other I then noticed more construction up ahead, an exit ramp being built into a commercial district with no ramp. We had to get him off of us or else we both would crash. Both cars started to speed up cause there was thicker traffic on our opposite sides and one of us was gonna hit the divider on the unfinished off ramp. We then ran over cones, warning signs and narrowly missing construction workers but as I feared it was too late as the Jaguar forced R over.

"OH SHIT!"

"WHOAAAA!"

"OH MY GOOOOD!"

Going about 90 mph we hit the unfinished ramp that had a slight incline that caused us to fly directly into a building that was right off of the freeway. We crashed through the glass side of the building screaming like crazy but the car landed and kept going. Then we were driving through cubicles with freaked out office workers everywhere and hoping we didn't hit any of them. The car was still intact and we were still alive, that much I was managing to register. But I then realized that we would soon run out of floor to drive on. The car was also fishtailing badly, R was having problems trying to steer and stop. It looked like this was another time to bet all or nothing. I reached over with my foot and stomped on his while it was on the gas. I then looked up and saw that the other side of the building was coming up fast. Facing the possible inevitability of death again we screamed as loud as we could.

We blew through the other side of the building and landed back on the freeway hard. I heard a simultaneous blow of air and a clang. We definitely blew some tires and something else but the car then started to make a few unhealthy noises. Since I wasn't wearing a seat belt I slammed my head on the dashboard, Lutz flew in between the front seats shoulder first into the console and R planted his face into the steering wheel. After reeling back and gripping my head I then noticed two things; one I was bleeding and two who was driving in front of us.

"Oh great now were chasing him!"

"R! I am never getting into a car with you again!" Lutz said gripping his shoulder hard.

"You might not have a choice! Cops are back!" He said with blood coming from his mouth and nose.

I then turned around and even though they weren't directly behind us I could make out the blue lights in the distance. We had to get off the freeway and ditch the car. Luckily a complete off ramp was up ahead but Codeubuff was still in front of us. I then noticed him appear out of the sun roof with a rifle, our BMW's engine was starting to crap out. As I stumbled around trying to find my SMG or my pistol the blonde bastard took aim. But before he could fire, the moment he got off the ramp a semi-truck slammed into the Jaguar and some speed. R then slammed on the brakes and the car fishtailed into the end of the trailer, but not as hard as we thought it was gonna be.

"Aw shit! You guys alright?" R asked both of us groggily.

"Ouch. Still breathing somehow." Lutz said as if he just got up from a hangover.

"Alive? Yes. Ok? No. I think I'm concussed." I said gripping my head which was in throbbing pain.

As I was trying to get my bearings straight I then heard the police sirens which were getting close. We had to get the hell out of there.

"Shit! Lutz, you got the case? We gotta go."

"Got it right here man." He then held up the case, scratched up but still intact.

I then tried to open my door but it was jammed shut, we couldn't get out from R's side cause it was pinned in place by the truck. I then pointed to the back window which was shot out, Lutz scrambled through first with the case. But as he got out I noticed two black SUV's pull up from in front of the truck and stopped in front of Lutz. He then pulled out his pistol but then a pair of hands appeared from the rear seat window of the first one and a Russian voice then emanated from it.

"NYET! Don't shoot! Koko sent us to help you!"

Lutz then lowered his pistol with a surprised look on his face.

"Wow that was quick. Help me get them out of the car!"

He pointed to our smashed BMW and two men in suits then came over and shattered the windows of the car and R and I climbed out more easily. As R and one agent grabbed the rest of our stuff so as not to leave evidence I still had a problem trying to bearings right. I wasn't lying when I said I think I had a concussion. Lutz and R got into the first one SUV and moved out. The other suit let me lean on his shoulder and we made for the second SUV and apparently the driver of the truck was coming over to help me and the other suit. Before I got into the truck though I saw a body lying on the road, bleeding out and with two limbs bent in the way that they weren't supposed to. I then noticed the blonde hair and open brown colored eyes of my would be assassin, he had failed.

As we mounted up and departed I noticed the blue lights arriving at the scene, just a little too late. I then leaned my head back and sighed deeply, it was over. I then noticed the suit that helped me pull out a first aid kit and the truck driver take off his hat and brown jacket he had a Beretta underneath his left arm I knew this was Koko's help. As I took my hand off of my bleeding scalp I then heard beep from a cell phone a woman's voice from the passenger side of the SUV, a very familiar one.

"Oni v poryadke?"

(Are they ok?)

…

"Ya ne imeyu v vidu produkty! Ya imel v vidu yego druzey."

(I don't mean the products! I meant his friends.)

…

"Harasho. Pozvoni Koko, skazhi yey, chot oni poryadke."

(Good. Call Koko, tell her they're alright.)

The lady then turned to the back seat to face me, amber brown hair, violet blue eyes, red lipstick, and beautiful as always, Amalia Tolokhovsky.

"Good to see you again Damien, are you ok? I got here as fast as I could."

I looked back at her and smiled. "I'm alight Amalia, matter of fact you came in at the right moment. And I take it you're the buyer?"

She leaned back further and placed her hand on my knee. Then addressed me in the quaint motherly tone she first used when we first met in that hospital in Belarus.

"As of now I am not here on business. I'm here to make sure what is precious to Koko is ok, though I regret that I cannot say unharmed."

I held my hand up to her. "Relax they, along with R's very bad driving, did this to me. I've been hit with much worse, believe me."

She then let out a soft laugh. "Well I'm not running the risk of the same thing happening to you twice until Koko gets here. For now you and your friends will stay at my hotel. I'll send some of my men to get your things, but for now you can relax. It's all on me."

 **2100 Hours**

 **Carre Vieux Port Marseille, Amalia's Suite**

Although it wasn't really a smart way for the buyer to have the seller's product in their possession without paying for it, the relationship between Amalia and Koko was an exception. Plus since we still had eyes on the microchips they technically weren't with Amalia anyway. And she was actually paying for them, with Lutz, R, and myself ordering the most expensive things on the room service menu. Not to mention Lutz got one of the masseuses up in the suite to massage his shoulder back into its socket. R however was a bit more liberal with his treatment and was just sitting around sharing his preferred brand of brandy with Amalia's men. As they were inside enjoying themselves, Amalia and I were out on her balcony overlooking Marseille cityscape. It was slightly cool out for the night but fortunately for us there was no breeze. A few hours earlier we were discussing about the cash exchange we would do with Koko tomorrow morning and we'd be done here in France. But after that we kind of got back to where we left off in London, after we were done with that deal with the UAV's. We just spoke about anything, her beginnings in theater, my fishing trips with my uncles, and the silliness of the politics of both East and West during the Cold War. That however led into the discussion of the enemies I had made over the last two years. But this one definitely stood out as anything but a coincidence. Someone was tracking me, I just didn't know who.

"Whoever this asshole is, he's either extremely desperate or he's got some serious balls if he was willing to hire a nut like Codeubuff to not only to kill an HCLI employee, steal from Koko, and try to kill me."

"And with both of you having so many enemies it would be hard to narrow that list down."

"However these attacks that have occurred in the last few months haven't been sporadic, they've been rather frequent but consistently whenever Koko is making deals or when we were not expecting an attack. Someone is watching us, hell maybe even right now."

Then it occurred to me what shouldn't have been more obvious, I then let out an annoyed grunt and then sat down on one of the balcony chairs. Gently pressing the bandage on my forehead from my skull bash on to our BMW's dashboard. Amalia then took a seat next to me and handed me my ice bag.

"Then again, I'm still a wanted man by the CIA. Koko even said it herself that while in Egypt she was targeted by a group that claimed was hired by them."

"If you think you are responsible for Koko's life being in danger you're wrong Damien. Our business of dangerous things attracts all sorts of people and you must not think that it's the same one over and over. Normally the ones that are obsessed end up getting themselves killed or are killed by those that they try to kill."

"Hmpf. Well they failed again, so whoever it was, obviously will try to take us head on themselves next time. Cause they're running out of options. They tried ambush, hit us when we're divided twice, and sent in expendable goons to try and probe us when we were all together."

"I'll ask Koko herself when she gets here tomorrow morning but I'll ask you first. Has she or any of you done anything untoward recently?"

Just then my thoughts came racing back to Ethiopia. I couldn't hide the embarrassed look on my face.

"Uhh…her no. Me and Soph…I mean Valmet, yes."

"You and the Finnish woman? What happened?"

"Well…uhh…crap this is a bit of a story. You see-" I was then cut off by the opening of the balcony door by one of Amalia's men with his phone to his ear.

"Viktor? What is it?" she asked.

"Apologies madam but there's a woman at the front of the hotel asking our men if she can speak face to face with Mr. Andrushko. An American woman."

"Who?" She asked as her eyes slanted.

"I don't know, she said she can help determine the cause of the attacks that have been happening to Miss Hekmatyar and what happened to Mr. Andrushko today. That she won't speak to anyone but him and it must be face to face."

I raised my finger. "Just curious, she wouldn't happen to be in her mid-twenties, blonde, blue eyed, well endowed, kind of hungry, and ditzy is she?"

Viktor, confused on who I was talking about, then asked the question to his men downstairs at the entrance in Russian and then looked back to me.

"No, none of those. She is a rather attractive woman but from what they said there's some sort of viciousness in her eyes."

 _Hmm. This may be a bad idea but if she knows anything about the attacks I gotta know something rather than nothing._

I stood up and checked the clip of my .45. "Tell your men downstairs to search her thoroughly and then escort her to the closed bar downstairs in a few minutes. Tell her I'll be waiting in one of the booths in the back. Have them posted outside the bar just in case she tries anything stupid."

"Are you sure about this Damien. What about Mr. Lutz and Mr. Socci?" Amalia asked.

"Don't tell them anything yet Amalia, this is my problem and they've had enough for one day."

 **2123 Hours**

The bar slash restaurant was closed for the night and after a little bribe, the hotel staff opened it up for a private meeting between me and whoever the hell this woman was. The only lights what were on were the two lamps at the door and the one row of lights at the set of leather cushioned half circle wood booths where I was sitting at. It was no coincidence that something like this just "happened" to fall into my lap after the day I had. This woman knew something more than what she was letting on. I checked my .45 one last time as I heard the doors to the bar open in the distance and tucked it behind my back. The steps she took were rather slow but she stopped when she saw me in the light, I then stared directly at the figure in the dark. She then walked over to the bar and grabbed two glasses and a bottle of cognac, essentially stealing them. She then spoke in a soft but seductive tone, and not the carefree one that Koko had used. It was more along the lines of playful.

"Goodness. You want to meet with me here and you don't even offer a girl a drink?"

"Skip the pleasantries lady. I'll get right to the point, how did you know I was here and how the fuck do you know about all the shit that's been raining on me?"

She then approached me slowly and her figure became more highlighted when she approached the light.

"Ahh…there's that classic, rough, young, voice of authority with that famous scowl. With a pinch of limited vocabulary. But calm down Damien, I didn't come here to start any type of fight. I'm more than willing to tell you what you wish to know. But for now let's be social."

She then sat down next to me and began to pour the cognac in both glasses, she wore a peculiar brand of perfume, rather light and not overwhelming. Viktor wasn't wrong, she was rather attractive. She wore a dark blue button up shirt with dark brown pants that highlighted her obvious curves and she was probably in her late thirties. She had fair skin with light green eyes and long thick mahogany colored hair. She then offered me one of the glasses with a gentle smile, I didn't even move or change my expression. She then set the glass down and continued to stare at me with her smile. It looked like she wasn't getting my point.

"Listen lady, so far today I've been shot at, flown through a building, gotten into a car crash, and had my brain rattled. I'm in complete _anti-_ social mode right now. You said you had answers I want some answers, now."

She then sipped her cognac and stared back completely unafraid of me. She then tilted her head as if she was analyzing something.

"Urgh Christ. Ok what is it?" I asked in a demanding tone.

"He wasn't as large and he didn't have that much hair but you are the spitting image of your father when he was younger."

"Alright I've had enough, tell me what I want to know or this conversation ends now."

I cut her off at the very end of the sentence, but she finally got that I wasn't gonna be one of those idiots that got seduced by a femme fatales charms. It was also no secret that I was the only son of one of SOCOM's senior officers. And I already have a woman that was far superior to her in every way and I wouldn't betray her.

"Ok since you insisted. All I ask is for you to hear me out first. Because I do believe that you are about to fall into a rather complicated situation." She then turned to me and put her legs up on the seat and began.

"Damien Hannibal Andrushko, twenty five years old, Captain in the United States Army's 3rd Special Forces Group. A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at only twenty with a double first in History and Sociology. Officially declared missing in action in Afghanistan by the US Army in 2008."

She definitely had done her homework, she was anything but thorough. She then leaned closer to me and put her head on my shoulder. I kept my eyes directly on her hands.

"Of course that is not the real story of what happened. Upon the completion of successful mission, you aided in the escape of a Pakistani ISI agent. Not long after that, the black site Anvil you were at was mysteriously attacked and you were the only one that was not among the dead. A few months later, the CIA found out you were still alive in Pakistan working as a body guard for an arms dealer that was supplying weapons to be used against US Forces there. From there your reputation grew, as the worst case scenario of what would happen if one of our nation's best went rouge. The incidents in the criminal underworld as well as certain proxy battles around the Middle East and Asia let the CIA designate you with your well known code name: Nightmare. And now since you've decided to join up with Koko Hekmatyar and HCLI, you've unknowingly stepped out of the shadows. That's why you've been targeted as much as she has."

The moment she mentioned "Anvil" I knew without hesitation that she was CIA and Koko's hunch had paid off. It was also in that moment that I knew who she was as well, the one who despised Koko more than any other, Hex. But why was she letting me know all of this? Why would she put herself directly in the line of fire like this?

Our eyes did not lose focus on each other but she then reach for my hands taking them both and then moved her leg over me and straddled my waist. I kept an even tighter grip on her hands, whatever she was doing, I wasn't going to be caught off guard. I would just let her think she get an upper hand.

"You don't need to grip so hard Damien. I said I wasn't going to do anything, plus I'm all by myself. If anything happened to you, your friends and that Russian would kill me."

She was either crazy or really wanted to let me know what was going on. But she did have a point, she had no advantages what so ever. She couldn't get to my gun, so if the worst happened I'd just push her across the table and empty the clip into her. So I eased the grip on her hands a bit.

"Alright lady, how do you know so much about me? Why are you letting me know I'm being targeted? Why are you here?"

She then leaned forward and placed her head and both her hands on my chest, while playing with a strand of my long hair.

"Your heartbeat is so calm. You truly aren't afraid of anything are you? Not even death. Not to mention you're also very solid." She ended with a giggle.

I let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm getting real tired of repeating myself…Hex."

She then looked up to me with her head still on my chest and wrapped her hands around my shoulders. I very subtly moved my hand back to where my pistol was.

"If you figured out who I am then you are as skilled as I expected. I wanted to see you because I wanted to see if you were as good as you claim you are. Naturally a lot of people see you as a terrorist. But I see you as a challenge. Sun Tzu said ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting. That's what I did when I had to put a hold on my terrorist hunting to find you. I found it rather ironic that two years ago I found the opportunity to curse the life of one to get back at another."

I then raised my eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?"

She then raised herself up, shut her eyes and kissed me softly on the lips but I did not return the favor. I shouldn't have let it go that far. But as long as she wasn't taking off her shirt I was in the clear and I still needed to get more info. But what came next came as the ultimate shock.

"I'm the one who bestowed upon you the name of Nightmare."


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Curse**

 **September 9** **th** **2010 2140 Hours**

 **Carre Vieux Port, Marseille, France**

Even though I had snapped during that terrible night, everything that I had ever done since then was of my own doing. I didn't set out after that to destroy cultures, people, or nations. I only did what was necessary to stay alive and I was afraid of what would happen to me if I was ever caught. That didn't mean that the actions I took were without consequence. The faces of those that were at the other end of my gun. The amount of dead who I left behind when I was finished with whatever job I had. Those that had met a violent end whenever my anger consumed me. It had spawned a reputation that summarized a monster was out there in the world.

Naturally there would have been one that would dare to stand up to it. One that was not afraid of it and would do anything to stop it. This was her and she had finally reveled herself after two years. Her codename of "Hex" seemed appropriate. Since she named me "Nightmare" her curse had caused me to become an emotional and psychological train wreck. On top of all that, God really does have one hell of a sense of humor. Since she had hunted Koko for the longest time, it must have been a golden opportunity for her that both of her trophies were together, lined up for a perfect shot. Too bad that she kept missing, and she failed again earlier today.

But what she was doing now was rather unpredictable, even for me. Putting herself directly in the line of fire, and I didn't really even need a gun if I wanted to kill her. But what I needed to know was that who was it that intertwined us both? I had made many enemies in the last two years so I would have to ask the obvious question. That however would be later, right now I had to remain calm. Because I had made a promise to Koko, that I would not fall back into a violent beast. That I would not hurt others to satisfy my rage. That I would not transform back into a murderer.

As she had continued to stare at me with that fake gentle smile and dead green eyes, she must have been waiting for a response. I would not give her one, I would not take the hook. She then twirled my hair around her finger.

"What's wrong? I thought you would be glad to know the one who has been shadowing you for two years had been presented to you in a way in which you would kill them so easily? Or was this the first time a beast like you have been kissed by a woman?" She said with a curious ponder.

"If you're thinking that you can cause me to snap that easily you're full of shit." I said with a growl.

"Hmm. It seems whatever sweet words she's filled your ears with has distracted you from what you're about to get yourself involved with Damien. It's not something you can just power through, even with your tenacity."

"I'm already working for an arms dealer and I'm a wanted US military fugitive that's literally written out of a James Bond film. How much more "involved" can I be?"

She leaned back from me and crossed her arms, my hands were still placed in a position in which I could defend myself if necessary.

"I'm not talking about the moment, I'm talking about the horizon. While it may have been me who has caused you and Koko some headaches, the CIA have not made a full on move against you or HCLI. Why do you think that is?"

"Because as much as I want this to be true it's not. They're not stupid, HCLI is still a legit company on the books and it would cause a lot of questions and controversy if it just collapsed overnight. There's a lot of states out there that buy from Floyd Hekmatyar's company."

With that smile still on her face she closed the distance and put her arms around me. I then reached back for my .45 and kept my finger on the trigger. She then whispered in my ear.

"Well I'll give you points for being close. The company has a plan to get Koko Hekmatyar into one of their arms dealing puppets. The main reason was to piggy back off their new intelligence network and augment the US militaries worldwide communication for their benefits. I got unknowingly involved to lay the ground work for the plans of one of the directors who was in charge of this op. It wasn't until much later that I found out that you were with her so I let some of your old rivals know that you were in her employment. _She_ practically gave away an opening for some of your old rivals to get back at you. The UAE, Serbia, Egypt, and now here, I know you didn't think it was a coincidence but I had to see what you were capable of so I let that weirdo Coduebuff know. Since you and that big bitch Velmer disappeared without knowing in Africa, I had to try again with you later. So I sent those hitmen to her as a present."

She was definitely pissing me off and wanting something to happen. But I couldn't afford to lose my cool. I was already on thin ice with Koko and Sophia from that bullshit with Low. But at least I had something solid now, whatever HCLI was putting together, Uncle Sam wanted to be a part of it or manipulate it behind the scenes. Honestly I wasn't really surprised at all, the United States still wanted to be the apex military of the world and they would do anything to accomplish it. That answered the first part, now came the second part. Who did she want to get back at?

"Well thank you kindly, my friends and I needed some target practice. Now here comes the part where I want no more bullshit and you answer me up front or I throw ass out into the garbage where you belong. What's the history between us? If you've been trying to catch me for two years, why now, and what did you mean when you wanted to get back at another?"

She then looked at my right arm reached over and slowly pulled up my sleeve to expose my tattoo. She leaned back on me put her finger on my arm and gently dragged it down from the hilt to the skull and to the tip of the blade. She then looked back to me with that smile but behind it was a look of envy.

"3rd Special Forces Group, The Wide Range Communications Platoon."

I raised my eyebrow having no idea who or what she was talking about. "Who?"

"It's not a surprise that you wouldn't know, it was before your time and before this world of ours turned into a mess of proxy wars and terrorists popping up everywhere. I take it you've already heard of the controversy and testing about women in combat roles in the US Military. This one was almost the real thing, but they _disbanded_ us at the last fucking second simply because the Joint Chiefs at the time were uncomfortable with women fighting a man's war. Not long after that a scout for The Company picked me up, and I've been putting a lot of bad guys in the ground ever since."

Her smile slowly faded into a scowl. She must have been one of some volunteers who participated in some experiment that women were just as good as men in combat. Upon seeing Sophia in action I could testify that to be true without hesitation. But she was a special exception, and there aren't a whole lot of women like her in the world that can do the things she could do. I began to wonder what made Hex so special.

"Hold up for one second, you mentioned 3rd SF. Are you seriously telling me you were about to be christened as a Green Beret?"

Her scowl formed into a neutral look and then addressed me as if she was speaking matter of fact.

"Yes. I was just out of West Point and heard of this program through a friend of mine who graduated ahead of me. The training was no different than what you went through, and despite the class having only ten soldiers throughout the training we performed exceptionally. As a patriot I was glad that our small but great group was about to make a big change to the US Army and maybe the world as a whole. That we fought better than any man could. That is until the misogynistic pricks in charge thought we would be concerned with breaking a nail rather than breaking the necks of our enemies. I was the only one that rebelled after my peers were bought off with promotions and I would have gotten the program to continue, if it wasn't for _him._ I pushed myself harder and faster than anyone else he tried to break down. I thought he would be the one who would help me but instead he put the final nail in the coffin. He said I was obsessed, that I enjoyed the training too much."

It had to be one of my older trainers, those were the only guys I could think of. Some of them were pretty sore when they found out I managed to sneak around them and get myself to be qualified. Granted what I did when I asked my dad for help was legally questionable but who did she really hate just as much as me and Koko.

"Judging from what Koko told me about you, you deserved to be cast aside. And it doesn't surprise me that the SAD let a walking staph infection like yourself be a part of their team. But why go through me to get to whoever this guy was?"

She then relaxed and opened the distance between us so that our chests weren't touching anymore, thank God. But leaned up on her knees, put her hands on my face and leaned her forehead onto mine.

"Don't misunderstand. I don't hate _you_ , I just needed you. Cause you don't need to kill someone in order to destroy them. It's no fun that way."

 _This bitch is sick to the core._

"Well if you don't hate me then quit wasting your time with me and go after the fool you want dead! Cause I have no idea who the hell you're talking about!"

She giggled softly as she took her head off of mine. "Now don't be silly. I couldn't just walk up to him of all people and shoot him. You would know that, seeing that you're that fool's son."

My heart then literally skipped a beat. I could not think of anything else to say. Dad always told me and mom everything, why didn't something like this come to mind. I knew that every now and then before he made field officer he was part of the training cadre at Ft Bragg. But why would she harbor a grudge against my father if he was part of a program like this? He always said he'd be fair and impartial to whoever was either under his command or trained. It couldn't be that he just said she was crazy. He did something that in her twisted head thought was just plain insulting.

As she continued to stare at me with those lazy and dead green eyes I realized something. She was my reflection, she had been through what I had and accepted the darkness. Except I couldn't handle the stress and broke down, I turned myself into something that wasn't my true nature. But in her case, she was true unto herself. In the end this woman is nothing more than an egotistical pile of neuroses. She was using her patriotism to cover up her own mad obsession for killing "terrorists". She also was weaker than I thought, she was no better than Thomas Kane. Praying on others to achieve her ultimate goal.

"So let me get this straight. You hate my father because from your point of view he _betrayed_ you and you hated him so much that in order to break him as a man you make me out to be some kind of freak to tarnish my whole family's name?"

She still held her expression but whether she knew or not, she set herself up for a burn as I let out a light chuckle while grinning ear to ear.

"Wow. You are just absolutely pathetic. You didn't get what you wanted and instead of confronting a problem head on like a true soldier you take the cowards route and went after someone else. And your plan to go after me is proving to be just as bad as if you went after my pop head on. Back then my father would have killed you if you went after him only once. But consider yourself lucky, I'm not who you think I am. So you just crawl back to whatever hole in Langley you came from. Were done, I'm not gonna waste any time on you. It isn't worth it."

I grabbed her by her waist and lightly threw her to my side and stood up to leave. I never was one to believe in fate but some things at times can be more than coincidence. I didn't think I'd be a part of something in which my father's past was catching up to me. While I might have forever lost the ability to reconcile with him, quite frankly because I don't deserve it, my father would never let a delusional sociopath like her be part of the Army's Special Forces anyway. If he had a reason to cast her aside, it was a damn good one. As I was about to leave she spoke again, almost threateningly.

"He worries about what happened to you almost every day. In fact his stress on what happened to you almost got him removed from SOCOM."

I stopped just about five paces from the door. I didn't turn around but my eyes shifted to where her voice emanated. It was the first time I heard anything about dad in two and a half years. That meant he was still around and still having command.

"When the CIA told him on how you just vanished he literally collapsed onto his knees. It was as if his whole world ended. He didn't even speak to anyone for over two months, it eventually got to the point where he was kept on suicide watch."

 _Don't give into it. You know what she's trying to do._

"When I first heard of his reaction it was so satisfying. If he ever wanted to know how it truly felt to lose something so near and dear to one's heart, then that's how it felt when he robbed me of my title as the first woman in the Green Berets. God if the old bastard ever finds out what really happened to you he'd be ruined as a man."

 _Block it out Damien. Block it the fuck out._

"But I think the real question is do you even care about what happened to him at all? Or are you really who you think you are? Do you even care? Or has Hekmatyar turned you into a true dog of war? Loyal only to a master that may seem like a girl but is worse than you."

I turned around slowly and looked at her with murderous intent. "One question."

"What?" She said with that fake smile and look in her eye that she finally broke the barrier.

"Why the hell did you kiss me?" I deliberately asked confused. She wasn't gonna break me.

Continuing to hold that fake smile she walked towards me and then looked up to me with curiosity. I returned a look of complete uninterest. It looked like whatever she was planning on doing wasn't going to work. One thing that I would have to do later though was let Koko know that I did come face to face with her. But I would let her handle the method of disposing of her. Because I made her a promise, and I will not betray that promise.

Hex then decided to humor me.

"Frankly you're kinda cute. I thought I could feel warmth from what should be the personification of death. But now that I've tasted it, I see that it is rather bland. You're just an oversized, sarcastic, pretty boy that has a mild case of autism. It looks like you're not what I thought you'd be." She said sounding disappointed.

"I'll take that as a complement." I said proudly.

She then opened the door and Amalia's guards were there to escort her out. I motioned to them that we were done and they led her out of the hotel. As I then walked back to the elevators to the suite I heard Hex one last time.

"I will admit that you are more tactful in your thinking Damien. I'm glad that you would take that compliment."

"Happy to oblige." I said turning around and falling slightly back into southern hospitality.

"Cause if you actually did kill me, I wouldn't be able to make this phone call I need to make so that Koko doesn't end up in the crosshairs of a Barrett .50 Cal."

My smile quickly turned into a scowl. No wonder she put herself in the line of fire like that. If I did something stupid, _I_ would be responsible for Koko's death. She looked like she wanted to send a message that she was gonna go all out next time and she wasn't afraid. I then looked to Amalia's men.

"Make sure she leaves the hotel safely." I said as unfazed as I could.

"Caio Damien. We'll talk again soon!" She said waving me off with her false smile.

I subtly hurried to the elevator and went back to Amalia's suite. Upon reaching the top floor I bolted to the room and motioned to the guards out front to let me in, I didn't take my phone with me so I left it in the suite. I then dialed in Koko's number on her Iridium phone. Lutz and R were looking at me wondering what happened. I held up a finger to let them know it was urgent.

" _Hello?_ " She answered with a yawn, she must have been asleep.

"Koko it's Damien. Are you okay? Nobody following you at all today?"

" _Uhh…yeah. The deal today went a lot better than yours did. Why what's wrong?_ "

"Get everyone up and go to the airport, NOW. You're going to be extra early to your flight when you leave for France. I'll explain later, but for now let's just say we had an uninvited guest. I'll see you tomorrow."

As I hung up, R gave me a look on what just happened when I was gone.

"No worries man, it's my problem."

A very big problem though but I wasn't gonna risk it in case Hex wasn't bluffing. I then made my way back to the balcony, Amalia was looking over the railing. Probably seeing Hex driving away.

"Did you get what you needed Damien?"

"Yeah...I did."

She knew from the tone I used that it was for me alone to know what happened so she didn't prod any further. She then smiled gently and walked towards me.

"Ok then. Now back to our conversation. What happened between you and Miss Velmer?"

"Oh…well. This is gonna be a doozy." I said rather embarrassed while placing my ice bag back on my head.

 **September 10** **th** **2010 0945 Hours**

 **Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille, France**

Needless to say when me, Lutz, and R met Koko and the rest of the crew at the airport we made it obvious that we did not want to talk about how fucked up the previous day was. Starting off with ruining a $40,000 car, we'd have to make it a write off, with our own cash. Lutz's arm was in a sling from where his shoulder was nearly dislocated, R had a bandaged face and black eyes from slamming his face into a steering wheel, and with my concussion I had to be told twice to get ready to go to the docks. Lehm said I had a totally vacant stare which meant this wasn't going away anytime soon, I was gonna have to go to a doctor.

The trip to the docks was a silent one except when Koko made the phone call to Amalia about where to meet. She was riding shotgun with Lehm and I was in the back seat with Sophia, still pretty angry. But at least they didn't reel into me or Lutz and R too hard since we were already banged up from our action movie chase on the freeway yesterday. We parked under a cargo crane where Amalia was waiting for us, they then both walked off to the edge of the docks for a semi private conversation. Leaving us, the body guards, to keep each other company. Since Amalia already had the chips, she just gave Koko the money. They must have really trusted each other cause normally in this line of work there's never anything exchanged until both the product and funds are both present.

"Thank you so much again. I love you Koko. With the new regulations I could never have gotten these."

"Don't thank me, thank Damien, R, and Lutz. They're the ones that got them back."

"No worries I already did. Now as of yesterday though, have _you_ done anything that would catch the eye of some nefarious types have you?"

She then stared back at me and Sophia, indicating about our little African road trip.

"I've been nothing but boring, why'd you ask?"

"I have a friend in the DGSE who told me that there are some CIA tracking you. Some rather unpleasant types as well, not your average field agents, these ones are dangerous."

 _Hex. No doubt about it. I'll have to let her know the moment were out of France._

"Thanks for the warning Ms. Tolokhovsky I'll be sure to keep an extra eye out."

"CIA are the hardest pests for our business. I do recall one man who tried to latch on to me years ago. What was his name? Oh yes, 'Bookman' was his nickname."

"Yes, I've heard of him as well. Real name George Black, runs the CIA European branch. Made a bit of a name for himself during the Yugoslav Wars and orchestrated the capture of several key Iraqi leaders when the US invaded in 2003."

Amalia then gave her a look of praise as they both turned to walk to us. "You know your enemies. That's my Koko."

"The world of spies is a game of chess, you must always be one step ahead."

"It's why I got my DGSE friends to get George off my back. The man thinks he can pull the strings on arms dealers on us like we're puppets. But both of us know what he's doing is impossible."

"And the reason for that is because the both of you are absolutely terrifying." I butted in.

"Oh come now Damien. We're not so scary." Amalia teased.

"No I'm serious. It's always the ones that you least expect that creep up from behind and get you like Jason Voorhees."

"Well if your saying Koko is a hockey mask wearing undead monster then that would make you a terrified teenage girl?"

I turned around and Sophia was behind me, looking slightly offended to on how I compared Koko to an infamous movie slasher star.

"Well to be fair Valmet he does have the best kept hair and if it wasn't for his voice, with his boyish looks he would fit well to be another victim."

It was Koko that came in with that one. I only then just realized how badly screwed I was, I was surrounded on three sides and had no way out. I then heard restrained snickering as Lehm and Amalia's guard Viktor were slowly backing away, leaving me to my fate.

 _Aww crap._

"Now, now go easy on Damien. He had a bit of a rough day yesterday, shouldn't you be letting him know everything's going to be alright Sophia?"

Sophia then took her eyes of me to Amalia and shot her a scowl. Then turned back to me.

"One; that's 'Valmet' to you. Two; what did he tell you?"

"Apparently not everything from what I'm witnessing."

Valmet, at this point, gave me a murderous look.

"Alright Valmet calm down, you can strangle Damien later. I'm sorry to make this meeting so short Ms. Tolokhovsky but we must go, come along Damien." Koko said as she looped her arm around mine.

"Dazvidanya, Koko. And you as well Damien, please get well soon."

I waved to her as we were walking away, and we then drove off. I leaned back on the back seat as if I just had the world's biggest kick to the nuts. With three hungry wolves around me there was no way I got out of that one unscathed. I'd rather do that damn freeway chase again.

"Ok I get it. I won't do anything stupid like what I did on the _Fruition_ anymore I swear." I said with annoyed defeat.

After coming into the gaze of a single gold eye, it was followed by a smirk and she turned to Koko.

"I think he's learned his lesson."

"I know he has, as a woman it's not that hard to read a totally defeated man." She said proudly while I heard Lehm's distinct short chuckle.

As we continued along the road back into town I looked out the window. It was time I told her about my visitor.

"Koko, I found out who's been hounding us recently and you were right."

"Hmm?" She turned around to face me.

"Last night I had a lady come visit me."

 **September 20** **th** **2010 1100 Hours**

 **HCLI Training Facility, East Sussex County, United Kingdom**

After we pulled our resources out of France it was time to do some brush up training. Obviously when I told Koko that her old friend Hex had reared her ugly head again she wanted us to be on extra guard. I didn't however tell her that I also had a connection to Hex, just not directly. That would however come at a later time and we would have to deal with her eventually. But next time though, she'll be doing it herself and it won't end until one of us is dead.

It was because of this little incident that Koko wanted to upgrade us, if you will. Apparently giving us all new gear, equipment, and weapons. It was also about time she take a page out of my book and take the more practical approach. I figured since it was just gonna shooting guns today and target practice, I brought out my own personal arsenal. Or as I like to call it, my Toy Box.

I had the thing custom made over a year ago from a safe maker during a short trip to Saudi Arabia. Much larger than your average foot locker or storage box, it was rather secure so I had to make sure no one broke into it. That being said it was also heavy, so it moved along on wheels. I took my folding stool, sat down, opened the lid and brought out my guns that were neatly placed on fold out trays as if you were to get a fishing lure from a tackle box. I then noticed one in particular that I hadn't used in a while, my Benelli M4 Super 90. Grabbing a rag at the bottom I then started wiping it down. As I was casually going about my business, I didn't bother paying attention to the looks that I knew everyone was giving me. They knew by now that I'd like being prepared for every situation.

"You put a whole new shine on the word 'overcompensation' Damien." Sophia said as she approached from my left shoulder to peek into the Toy Box. Picking up another weapon I didn't use as much, my modified SG 550.

"Hey what's the one rule we both agreed on? Not to touch each other's stuff."

She just smirked and pulled the bolt back to see if the chamber was clear. "You're a big fan of rail systems I see."

"Allows me to swap out optics and accessories to better suit whatever mission is at hand."

As we continued to conversate on weapon aspects our speech was drowned out by bursts of automatic fire. Tojo was test firing a new rifle we got, which appeared to be a new type of Adaptive Combat Rifle or ACR. It appeared that even though this was the most likely weapon to replace the current US Army's M4's and M16's it still was put on the back burner for the future simply because of the cost. Like the XM8 it found a better home for private military companies. While I was grateful for having access to reliable gear all the time, I pitied the guys in the service that kept using the same stuff for 50 years simply because the military always bought from the lowest bidder. That is unless you were part of the black ops world and even then the perks you had were only minor.

"Crazy to think that we live in an age where even the magazines are plastic." Tojo said as he unloaded the empty clip.

"You're not alone in that man. I still can believe the progress firearms have made in the last 30 years alone. Most of them around the world were still primarily steel and wood." I said agreeing with him as I put my Benelli back in its tray.

"Glad you guys like them cause all of you are getting new gear."

Koko then pulled out two cases one small and one large and opened the larger on first.

"Say hello to your new little friends!" She said with a bad impression of Tony Montana. "The Remington ACR."

The crew then let out an audible reaction of awe but I just stared in silence. I always believed in the fact that it was the one behind the weapon that made the difference. While cheesy it was true, and the same can be said for almost anything like racing, fishing, or cooking.

"Glad you all like it. I was gonna be worried that you'd all say 'Kaaaaaay'."

"I'm glad for anything brand new Koko but it's kinda unnecessary. It ain't like we have any problems with our current rifles. Variety is the spice of life." I said patting my box.

"Ah ah ah! I had a feeling you'd say that Damien." She said pointing an accusing finger. "That's why I decided to take your methods of being prepared and make sure that all of us use the same ammo and magazines so we can help each other out in a pinch."

I then gave a smile of approval as she then opened the smaller case, then held up a very familiar pistol.

"This will go for sidearm's as well. This will be your new handgun, the Sig Sauer SP2022. Anyone that wasn't using 9mm rounds before, you are now."

 _I doubt that very much. I don't care what you do to me Koko you ain't taking away my two most trusted pals that kept me alive for so long._

"Well don't just show it off, fire off some rounds. Let's see what you got little lady."

I was taken back a little by what R said by calling her out. And come to think of it since I've been working for Koko I've never seen her shoot. The guys did say that she did but it was far and few in between so this would be interesting. She loaded up three rounds in the mag and walked towards the firing line to one of the untouched close range targets at 10 meters. Perfect stance and pistol control, one, two, three, in steady moderation. Three shots center mass, two in the inner most circle and one just on the edge. She most assuredly knew what she was doing.

"If you can't match my grouping, you'll be punished."

"God! Thanks a lot R! Now we gotta play her game!"

As Lutz was cursing at R, I just got a massive boost in enthusiasm. I sat up from my stool and then approached Koko with my arms crossed. I always loved a challenge when it came to shooting.

"I'll do you one better Koko, I'll beat your grouping."

"Bold statement Damien, but if you insist. Here." She said offering me her Sig.

"Ha! Not with that thing, I got something better." I said with my thumb to my chest as I made my way to my Toy Box.

I had something special in the bottom that I normally shot for fun. It was as American as anything could be. While we were often seen as the bastard child of the world, we made a lot of influences both good and bad, especially in weapons and war. This however was one of nicer ones, and it was a thrill to shoot. I pulled out a simple unmarked black plastic case and set it on the table next to the Sig and ACR. I opened it and pulled it out and held it up a little bit too dramatically covering the right side of my face. Silver finish, eight inch barrel, black ribbed grip, and six shots of 270 grain rounds that will knock you flat on your ass.

"The old saying goes is that God made men and Sam Colt made them equal. I hold that to be true. The Colt Anaconda .44 Magnum Revolver."

After five long seconds of everyone staring at me dumbfounded, Lutz broke the silence.

"Oh God can you be any more of a stereotype?"

His sarcasm had a bit of a bite that time and the rest of the crew looked at me on how I just turned into the complete opposite of my practical self. The only one who held her composure with her usual smile was Koko.

"You know Lutz I could say something rather clever but I'm not that type of person so I'll just say, get the hell out of my way and let me shoot."

I then looked to Koko and motioned with her head to go ahead, she decided to humor me. I took six bullets and loaded them one at a time, spun the cylinder so that working properly and locked it in the gun and moved to the next unshot target. I took a sharp breath and exhale, took aim and fired all six at the same moderation as Koko did. The noise from the big rounds went off louder than both the pistol and rifle causing a longer echo. After the final shot I kept the revolver aimed down range and analyzed the target, six shots all in the inner circle. I then unloaded the empty rounds and turned to face Koko, not really caring about the rest of the crew being flabbergasted on what they just saw.

"I'm thirsty, any y'all wanna soda?"

"Pepsi's fine with me if you have any Damien." Koko said casually.

As I left the range to go get the cooler out of the SUV outside the range I overheard the silent whispers of "What the fuck?"

 _Don't hate me cause I'm good at my job guys._

 **1312 Hours**

After getting reoutfitted with our new rifles and adjusting our sights at the range we headed out to the driver's section. The drill was to extract a VIP in the event of an ambush and evac them by a vehicle. Naturally Ugo was the driver in the SUV that was following me, Lutz, Mao, and R while Tojo acted as the VIP. We were taking turns in different positions as the escorts four at a time. Wiley and Sophia were sitting it out with Koko waiting for their turn while Lehm acted as the coach.

"And…threat!" He said raising his hand high in the air

We all reacted with instinct as Ugo's car pulled up behind us. Mao took the rear, Lutz took the front, I took the opposite front, and R took Tojo and shoved him into the back seat. This was the third drill so far and we were supposed to move moderately and then speed it up but this one was a bit of a drag.

"Too slow guys. You'll end up being cut to ribbons if you all move like that." Lehm shouted.

"Damien, you're on the wrong side, I'm supposed to cover from the engine."

"Aw crap your right, sorry Lutz."

Lehm let out an annoyed sigh. "Let's run it again. Wiley, Valmet, switch out with R and Damien."

We then switched out and R and I moved to where Koko was sitting under some shade where she was working on her laptop. R then tossed me a bottle of water as I undid my ponytail and started scratching my head, I was starting to build up a sweat under my thick hair.

"Seriously how the hell do you function the way you do with all that hair? You're lucky it hasn't gotten caught in anything yet."

"Bro, I run the same risk if a strap on my gear or piece of clothing gets caught on something. If it does I'll just cut it loose with my knife. But I am gonna get this thing trimmed eventually."

"No don't do that. Valmet will want you to look as least masculine as possible seeing she's the dominant one in your relationship." He said poking fun at me.

I then looked out to her as they ran the drill again. This time Tojo tripped on Lutz's leg and he landed face first in a mud puddle. I then saw her laugh.

"You honestly think I mind?"

"Somehow I had a feeling you'd say that."

"Hate to interrupt the discussion on couples you two are having but R, I have a question for you." Koko said while looking at me with both eyebrows raised. I automatically knew what she was gonna ask.

"Sure what's up?"

"Have you heard of a CIA agent known as Bookman?"

"Yeah. Ran into him a few times during the Bosnian War when I was still Italian Army. Bookman is only one of his many nicknames but his real name is…"

"George Black, currently the director in charge of European operations." Koko answered for him.

"Hmm. Good that you've been doing your homework. What do you wanna know?"

"I heard a few rumors from Ms. Tolokhovsky that he might be tracking us. I figure I ask you since you've actually met him in person."

"Well one things for sure he's a big eater. Not like you Damien where he balances out his diet with exercise. He did have a bit of a gut fifteen years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't get out of a chair now though."

Koko let out a chuckle. "I guess working in the CIA makes you stress eat. I almost never see Schokolade without food."

"I do know that he majored in languages. He most definitely speaks better Arabic than you do Damien. But the reason why he's mostly known as Bookman is that makes it pertinent to know every detail about something. Sort of like a scholar."

 _Man must be quite smart. I normally just get what I need and move on, considering the fact that what I do now I don't really have time to memorize things in every little detail._

"Does this have anything to do with those hitmen last month? Or our little accident in France last week?" He asked.

"Sorta, but that guy sure as hell wasn't the one who did that last hit. I managed to figure it out, but I couldn't take care of it because I was…in a bit of bind."

"What are you talking about Damien?"

I then turned to Koko and she answered for me.

"Have you ever heard of a SAD agent with the code name of Hex?"

"Can't say I have. Who is he?"

"He's a she. Hex as in witch."

"Or in her case when she made contact with me; curse."

"What?" R said in a whispered shout.

"Yeah, it was later in the evening after our mad dash across Marseille. She deliberately put herself directly in my line of fire, wanting me to kill her."

R then stared at me confused. "Why?"

"Well I won't say everything but she's getting desperate. She wanted to let us know personally that next time she's gonna go at us head on. I didn't know for sure or not if she was bluffing but her team had eyes on Koko and the rest of the crew. If I killed her, I would have killed them. But I wouldn't have done it anyway."

I then smiled and winked at him and he knew where I was getting at. I did what Koko said and made sure I didn't do anything that made me what I wasn't gonna be.

"Way to use your head Damien. Great job."

He then held out his fist and I returned it with a bro bump. But then I heard Lehm shout.

"Damien! Come switch with Mao! Family emergency."

"On my way."

I then grabbed my new ACR and headed back over to the SUV and took his position. We then began the drill again and waited for Lehm's signal.

"Threat!"

I took my position in the rear while Sophia and Lutz took cover from the engine while Tojo, still covered in mud, took Wiley to the SUV. We were working a little faster this time but this one had a variable in it.

"Escort shot! VIP in danger!"

Letting instinct kick in I turned around to grab Wiley and take over Tojo's job. However I was a little too focused on him and ran directly into someone else, hard. My head took a bit of an impact from that collision, and it still hurt from our Hollywood car chase last week. I then leaned up from off of the ground grasping my head in pain.

"Aww shit! Sorry guys."

Strangely they didn't say anything but each were staring at me with a look of mischief.

"What?" I asked.

"You two just can't seem to wait can you?" Lutz said in his sarcasm.

After a brief moment of confusion I then looked down. I was on top of Sophia in a bit of a provocative and dominant mount. She was looking up to me with a mixture of shyness and anger, but mostly anger. Thinking quickly I acted as if I could brush it off as an accident and got off of her quickly and offered her a hand up.

But when she took it, she pulled out her unnatural strength and pulled me back toward the ground and I ended face planting in the dirt.

"Tyhma." She said in her native tounge.

As I lifted my head up she then stood up herself and got back into her position so we could run the drill again. But not before I saw a slight redness on her face, what I couldn't tell though was if it was embarrassment or rage.

"Looks like someone's sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Shut up Lutz." I said still on the ground.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: Responsibility**

 **September 21** **st** **2010 1738 Hours**

 **Bull Run Estates, Virginia**

The season temperatures for the beginning of Fall were rather nice this year. The leaves would not be changing colors for the next two months but that didn't mean that they weren't going to fall off the trees eventually. Marcus knew he would have some lengthy yard work in the future once he came home from the office. His property line was where the woods began but he had several fully grown trees sporadically placed throughout his back and front yard. So needless to say that the leaves got everywhere. But he wouldn't need to worry about them yet as he sat on his back deck drinking a bottle of ale while he watched his company conversate on the deck. His brothers and their wives had made a surprise visit this afternoon so he had snuck out of work early.

His oldest brother was on his grill cooking pork chops, he then noticed that the silver in his temples had spread again but he was almost twenty years older than him so the clock obviously didn't stop. Even as Frank smiled while he was flipping the meat the frown lines in his face were chiseled in as if they were scars, with a square jaw and still athletic build for an old man it was a befitting form of who he was as a command sergeant major with twenty five years in the army as a scout in the cavalry. Of course the real scars were on his exposed arms, the look of burned flesh was still there as a permanent reminder of how close he was to getting killed in the jungles of Vietnam so long ago. While on patrol his platoon didn't check to make sure all of the NVA were dead and one of them threw a white phosphorous grenade at him. He shielded his face with his arms and got to cover at the last second but not before it blew. The doctors said it was a miracle that he didn't lose complete loss of function in his arms.

His second oldest sat across from him lighting up his next cigarette. Every time he said he would quit he would, for a while, and then get right back to it. This one however was a record at seven months. Stress was rather frequent in his line of work so nobody really had any authority to get him to stop. Being responsible to make sure either a person would live or die can do that to anybody. Unlike most of the men in the Andrushko family Eric had chosen early on to embrace medicine as his career, he just let the Navy pay for his med school and after finishing his single contract as a doctor on board the USS Enterprise and a surgeon at Norfolk he left and followed his true career. But just cause he was good at putting people back together again didn't mean he was an angel of mercy. He was one of the most vicious and durable amateur boxers in the US Navy when he was younger. By using the swarmer style he constantly kept up the punishment on his opponents by getting in close and not giving them a chance to breathe. If he did get hit, he just took the blows like they were nothing. It was a peculiar style to use since most swarmer's were smaller and had a shorter reach and he was the biggest of the three brothers at six foot three. He did however make it perfectly clear when got on the Navy's team he wanted no contracts to go professional. He always wanted to healer, which was ironic considering the amount of injuries he gave to other boxers and the occasional jackass who didn't watch his tone when he was on shore leave.

Frank had stopped by to celebrate because he had just become a grandfather, his eldest daughter had just given birth to a boy. Eric was there just because he wanted to score a free meal and raid his little brother's beer stockpile. The times that the three brothers were all together was rare since they lived in different states and didn't have enough time to do family vacations. Eric was the only one within driving distance since he lived in Pennsylvania but Frank wanted to make a quick stop to Marcus's home to let him know the good news in person since his flight wasn't going back to Texas till tomorrow afternoon. Many things kept going forward in the Andrushko family, but for Marcus it was a bit of a state of stagnation and loneliness. Frank and Eric knew of the tragedy that had consumed him to the point where both of them felt that they would lose the youngest of the three. They both made a promise to keep in touch with him as often as they could, no matter what the consequences would be or no matter where and what he was doing. They didn't give a damn about security clearances or the need to know basis, all that mattered was that he still had his family. But today would be a celebration to the birth of another to come into theirs, as Frank held up his beer in a toast.

"To my grandson, Clayton Eugene Bock!" The other two brothers raised their bottles in salute

"That's the name Ingrid and Ethan decided on?" Eric asked of his niece and her husband.

"I shit you not they only started to narrow down names when she went into labor." Frank said falling slightly back into his NCO days as he loaded up the meat on a plate.

"How'd dad and mom take the news when they found out they became great grandparents?" The General asked.

"Well you know our mother she just said 'Great, thanks for making feel even older.' And dad just gave his congratulations as if only something good happened today."

Marcus knew that the Andrushko family roots were deep in warfare and hard work but somewhere along the lines they fell into the crowd of normal people where the older you got the less you gave a fuck about things. The three of them decided to break that norm, which was something that was a trait in their family. They'd do something that was the opposite of what they grew up with and made it successful. Alexander Andrushko however almost made it where they would break up the family when Marcus left home without his or Tanya's permission to enlist. When Marcus met Lauren thought it was the last straw, but Tanya had given her husband the sternest yelling imaginable to not jump to conclusions unless he did something truly wrong.

"Somehow that sums up mom pretty good. But you tend to forget that she can make dad be happy whether he wants to be or not." Eric said putting out his cigarette as he saw the two wives coming from the deck door with the sides they were cooking inside.

"Which is why the men in this family are complete slaves to their wives. You said you would quit Eric! Give me the rest of them!" She demanded with her hand out.

"It's in celebration for my grandnephew Francine, chill out." He said wearily as he handed over the rest of the pack.

"Well I'm not picking ashes out of my food. What you and Franny make Kristina?" The eldest brother said to his wife.

"I baked some carrots in brown sugar and butter while Francine made fried potatoes." She said holding up both baking dishes with her hands covered in hot pads.

"I don't think you two weighed the options on my brother's health. You may have lowered his cancer risk but you increased his heart disease risk." The General said pointing to the doctor first and then to the food.

"He's a good doctor and he can deal with it." Francine said as all five of them sat down and began to dig in.

Dinners in Marcus's family were often silent. Not because of that there was nothing to say or everyone was distant but that the meal should be properly enjoyed and every flavor savored. If all of the children were there though, the food would be cold before anyone ate. It was however a little hard considering that for now going on the longest time that his big house in which he earned by climbing through the ranks from enlisted to officer was plagued with silence. He never truly recovered from when he lost Lauren but with the disappearance of Damien, the battle hardened personality he forged when he was a green beret was slowly crumbing. He had done a lot of thinking in the last few months and with the ever growing concern of the increase of unstable regions around the world, he figured his time was up. As he speared his next carrot with his fork he spoke before eating it.

"I'm thinking of putting in a request for early retirement from SOCOM when spring rolls around." He said bluntly while looking down at his plate.

The two brothers and their wives focused on him as he was the only one who continued to eat. They thought that he would never leave until he got all four stars on his shoulders. But with what happened two years ago, they could understand why he would want to be done. Kristina asked first on why he would make such a decision, she knew from her husband that there was a lot of stuff you never discussed in the world of black ops. It didn't matter if it was family or not, but Marcus was normally the one most likely to break the rules.

"I know you can't tell us everything Marcus but did Olsen and Mullen put pressure on you to do this?" She asked referring to SOCOM's CO and the Chairman of the JC.

"Of course not Kris, I made this decision myself. It may come as a shock but even spec ops operators have a shelf life. Some expire more quickly than others, I just figure I…pass the torch."

Eric then took his next swig of beer. "Looks like I'm gonna be the only one still working. Well hey you know, we'll always support you little bro. It don't matter if you outrank us but don't expect me to break out my old uniform for your retirement party. I never liked wearing the same damn thing every day. At least when I'm in my scrubs I got something nice on underneath."

With Eric's chiding it got the family back to eating but he thought of what was really going through his little brothers head.

 _I know you miss Damien man, I do too. But two and a half years is a long time, you have to accept the fact that he's gone. I know that in his case they're listed as missing in action but it's just a comforting form of telling a family that one of their members is dead. No parent should bury their own child but you can't let tragedy consume you. He got strong and went farther and faster than any of us ever did so don't forget that._

 **September 22** **nd** **2010 0155 Hours**

 **Silver Lion Pub, London, United Kingdom**

Last call was made about five minutes ago and I decided to get a double for the road, not literally of course cause I was gonna walk back to the hotel at Heathrow. The endless amount of old pubs that were around London had a good feel of the old world. The oak wood floors, walls and beams that were over a hundred years old that had seen countless gatherings of either rowdy fun or nasty brawls. Lined with old and new pictures as well as game animals this place had history. Supposedly this used to be an old hang out for hunters that came and went on safari in the British colonies in Africa, you could get a decent amount of lager or ale for a whole afternoon or evening for a single pound sterling, hence the name Silver Lion. And it was one of the few places that didn't get terribly damaged by the German's in the Blitz.

I gently nipped on the whiskey as almost if not all the patrons had cleared out. The plane wasn't gonna take off to Budapest until ten tomorrow and I would have a decent night sleep until then. I just needed some time to myself and relax since it was back to normal work tomorrow. If gunfights, explosions, and pushing your luck of not getting killed was considered normal. The bar maid was washing the last of the beer mugs as she turned to me as the last of her customers left. She was acting a little flirty with me earlier for obvious reasons but bars were the same all over the world. The girl that pours the drinks is supposed to look pretty and get the men to fork over more money, but I was gonna take my time.

"As much as I like looking at a massive man that's also well-mannered for a yank can you please close out your tab so I can close up?" She said playfully while begging since she wanted to go home.

"I won't let good whiskey go to waste. Plus since I was out for longer than I was supposed to be for tonight I need something to numb me out since I have another lady that will probably be very angry at me when I get back to my hotel."

"Aww, lucky girl. I hope she's worth it."

 _She is, depending on her mood._

I was down to about three deep nips left when I heard the door creak open. I looked at the mirror on the bar shelf as I saw a much older man, possible in his fifties in a dark blue trench coat that wasn't buttoned up. I noticed he also wore a dark blue striped suit underneath it with a black tie.

"Sorry love. Bar's about to close." The bar maid said.

"Don't worry dear I know. I'm actually here for him. I'm his escort."

I turned around confused to get a better look at him. While he spoke American English I heard a slight accent underneath that gave away the fact that it wasn't his first language. The authority it carried though was heavy. It was one of one who knew he was in charge of whatever it was and no one could tell him otherwise. He had a light olive skin tone with a haircut consisting of a groomed politician that was silver white. He was also rather tall for an old man at around six foot even as he sat down next to me. But the one thing that seemed very familiar was his eyes, they were unnaturally blue and had a type of predatory look in them but not fully.

 _He can't be._

He then looked to me and extended his hand.

"Pleasure to finally meet you in person Damien. I'm Floyd Hekmatyar."

It was only after he said who he was that I saw images of Koko and Kasper flash in front of me in the same spot he was. Naturally I slightly hesitated as I took his hand and didn't shake it with the normal firmness I always used. Why was _he_ here?

"No need to be alarmed or anything Damien nothing bad has happened. I'm actually making a trip to Sydney in a few days to check on Kasper's operations in the Pacific. London's just my first stop, so naturally Koko doesn't know I'm here. And if it's not too much of a problem please don't tell her I'm here talking to you."

"Why are you here talking to me anyway?" I asked still in shock by being in the presence of a man who owned a whole shipping fleet that delivered billions of dollars in weapons across the entire planet.

"I'll explain but not here. Come I will drive you back to the hotel."

He got up and left the bar, I stared at the door as it closed still wondering why the hell he was here. I gulped the last of the whiskey down, closed out my tab, put on my leather jacket, and followed him outside. He was sitting in the back of a black Rolls Royce with two of his bodyguards keeping eye out. Between the Rolls were two black Lincoln Continentals with more guards sitting inside them waiting on instructions. It looked like more along the lines for a security detail for a head of state rather than a business man. But I could tell from the posture of these guys all of them were ex-military, and most assuredly not regular forces. I entered the Rolls sitting next to him with a surprising amount of leg room. The guard closed the door and after he got in the front seat we rolled out.

"Even though she and I have not seen eye to eye on many things for years, I cannot deny my responsibilities as a father. I make it my business to know who my children work and associate with. With the nature of our business, it's logical that I'd be concerned given your…reputation." He said as we made the first turn.

I didn't really find it that surprising that he found out a lot of classified crap on me. Even though I had been working for HCLI for a while now. I wondered why it took this long for him and I to meet face to face.

"Well Mr. Hekmatyar if you've been keeping track of what your daughter has been doing this year, I'd be concerned as well. But if you must know I have done my job well. Despite the setbacks and unforeseen circumstances we have always come out with successful deals and your last rocket just went up without problems."

 _Except for the one that didn't have anything to do with it._

"I know, and I know that Koko will do what must be done in order to succeed. And I do know of the danger that she has been in more than I care to mention. But I ensured that she and my son would have the best protection, that's why I asked John and Anya to be their bodyguards."

 _Who the hell's Anya?_

"As far as success goes, she's always been like that, even if she thinks that I only care that a product we have succeeds that I will only begin to acknowledge it. When you get to be my age in any type of business whether it be guns or butter, no pun intended, you must stay focused that what you built continues to remain strong. It is the same way with those that work for me, and you are no exception."

I knew Koko got here lessons in authority from somewhere but it most assuredly was not her father. Hers held concern for me and the crew. Floyds seemed to just be mostly for his company. I knew that the relationship between the two of them was strained but this was our first meeting. So I'd have to wait until we were done talking before I made any judgments.

"With respect Mr. Hekmatyar, I work for your daughter. Not you."

He looked and me and smiled slightly. "Hmm. Somehow I knew you would say that. Koko does like to think that all of HCLI is just her, her bodyguards, and her ship. While occasionally working with her brother. But she refuses to realize that she's a part of a much greater machine and she and Kasper will be controlling it someday. She may have far more authority and freedom than any other executive and distributor of HCLI merchandise but she still works for me. That being said I want her to continue to succeed."

"You didn't really show a whole lot of support when the last rocket was about to go up. That essentially meant that your logistics program was done. And from what I've found out, this cost HCLI a pretty penny."

He then looked out the window to the London city scape, still busy even at two in the morning.

"While legally it belongs to me it is and was _her_ project. All I did was just give her the approval for her to start and the most difficult part is completed. She earned it, it was her success and I had nothing to do with it, so she alone should enjoy it."

"Can't you just tell her that?" I asked.

He turned back to me, leaned forward, and grouped his hands together.

"I take it that you believe Koko and I don't get along very well do you?"

"She does avoid mentioning you as much as she can, yes."

He kept his hands together but brought his right leg up and placed it on his left knee. Looks like I was in for another story.

"I know not where she harbors this anger towards me. No matter what happens I want to ensure that my children had a better life than I had. It is the responsibility of all good parents. I may have been successful with Kasper but I don't know where I went wrong with Koko."

"If it's not too much of a problem. You can skip the rags to riches part." I knew where he was going and I wanted to avoid it. It had a scary similarity from over two years ago.

"Quite the opposite in fact Mr. Andrushko. My family was one of the biggest produce merchants in Iran. Yes I started in the business of sales by selling fruit. Mostly citrus and dates to be specific."

I then sat up a bit straighter to let him know I was interested in what he was saying and he continued. I figured I'd humor him, and it looked like I figured out where Kasper got his knack of liking to hear himself talk.

"Granted we were not as well off as the Shah but as you can see now what is actually happening in my homeland today is just what it was underneath the cover of the Shah. While he had power, the only thing he was, was a British and American puppet. Needless to say this caused controversy with those that had national pride and especially those who practiced Islam. I don't feel that I need to tell you of rise of Islamic extremism has caused truly severe prejudices around the world. They didn't like the idea of western capitalism so naturally there was hatred towards my family. The biggest tragedy as well as change in responsibility in my life however came when I was only eighteen when the earthquake in Tabas happened, my whole family was among the 15,000 dead. With everyone gone I assumed the responsibility of owning a fairly lucrative business but I was on my own with no one to keep me safe in a nation with rising controversy. So I sold almost all of my possessions, land my family owned to other merchants, transferred all of my holdings and accounts into a Swiss bank and fled to France. Since my so called "company" was just me I merged myself with averaged sized freighter company called St. Elmo's Shipping. Its owner was a former French sailor and they primarily moved around machinery and equipment for the French military. It was where I made some of my first contacts in arms distributors and from there it grew. It was also during this time I had a crush on the owner's daughter."

"Koko's mom?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Of course. Her name was Katrina Chevalier, and if you put her next to Koko you would swear that a mirror was right next to one of them. Only difference was that Katrina had green eyes. I'm glad that both Koko and Kasper look and act so much more like their mother than me. They both inherited her intelligence and charisma. Unfortunately her father didn't see us as a perfect couple. Even as a child he was rather controlling of her and almost never let her make her own decisions. So much to the point that he gave himself a stroke and died of heart failure. Since he was her only family and I had lost all of mine we grew very close and were almost never away from each other. It was then that we decided together to make a future for our children where neither of them would have no concept of national pride, collectivism, or influence of others, they would be themselves and no one else. It couldn't have come at a better time because the world was rapidly changing in ways that hadn't been seen since the end of the Second World War. Needless to say that the chains in which the East and West kept on their influenced countries began to rust and break. This caused a lot of conflict in different spots around the world and my distribution of equipment and machines was in decline. That's when me and my wife decided to go into distribution of arms and our contacts in the French military branched us out to other buyers. Since we couldn't use her father's old company name we bought it and reforged it to what it is now, Hekmatyar and Chevalier Logistics Incorporated. The amount of sales we made in small arms alone sky rocketed and we were constantly on the move. It didn't stop us from being a married couple though, it was around this time Kasper was born. He would be the first one as a true man of the world."

"Is that why both of them were born on one of your cargo ships and took them to work constantly? Not to be rude but this sounds like some sort of twisted social experiment. Koko did tell me a while ago that she never went to any kind of school in her life."

He then looked at me as if one of his executives were challenging him on one of his decisions, I held my posture of professionalism as an army officer.

"Legally speaking you are correct, any kind of credentials in education or even identification they have are fake. Because I paid out of my own pocket to ensure that my children were taught the knowledge of what they were supposed to know without the injections of preference, suggestion, and coercion. To know the facts first, and they then could make their own choices. Naturally I couldn't be there all the time and this was especially true when the Cold War ended. I had so many weapons orders come in requesting from both Eastern and Western names that I had to go because I didn't have enough employees at the time. But I would gave them the opportunity to choose to be whatever they wanted but it appeared that they found my line of work rather fascinating. It was however a shame that Katrina did not live to see it. She died of complications giving birth to Koko, since we were on a cargo ship the medical access we had was limited."

It was then that I realized I felt like I was mirroring Koko's life in some way. She lost her mother, her father wasn't around as much, and she ended up falling into the family business. Only difference was that she carried on with her life as normal, mine was pretty self-explanatory. It was right here though that I had truly learned a lot more about Koko's past and her origins more than she told me. This probably why she kept that aura of mystery about her, she wanted to close out the bad memories, maybe this had something to do with this new world she kept talking about with Professor Amada.

"Since we got the origin out of the way Mr. Hekmatyar. Are you going to tell me why you wanted to talk to me?" I asked getting back to our original conversation and he still held his pose of sitting with authority.

"Just because I'm not there with her doesn't mean I don't pay attention to what's happened. There have been more than a fair share of incidents that have happened to her this year alone. They started to increase steadily since my son first came across you in Myanmar. I also know that Koko likes to be rather close to you."

 _Don't tell me he's one of "those" father's._

"The reason why is because long ago I lost someone that drifted too far into the darkness and they never came back." He then looked at me with a very piercing stare. "I know of your reputation, and who you really are. But for some reason being around my daughter has changed you in a way, I can see it. I just want to know what you think of her."

Hekmatyar did raise a valid point. Being around Koko _has_ changed me. But I wondered why I would bring her out of her grey area that she always stayed. How could that happen?

"There has never been anything going on between us other than being friends. I won't lie though, she's one of the most charming and beautiful women I've ever met, but I like someone else. What Koko sees in me I truly do not know, but I owe her everything for helping me turn my life around."

He then let out a light chuckle and stared ahead. The car was beginning to pull up to a stop, I saw that I was at the front of our hotel. Floyd then sat up straight with his arms crossed.

"I've known John and William for a long time and they've kept her safe for all these years but I think they will be looking for a replacement soon. I think you'll fit the bill quite well. I know she thinks highly of all of you, but Koko is still a woman and she does have needs. All I can do is just hope she makes the right decision."

His body guard opened my door to let me out. He didn't want to stay long for obvious reasons but he kept the formalities by extending his hand once more. This time I took it with sincere firmness.

"I hope we can talk more in the future. Until we meet again Damien, and please call me Floyd."

"Of course…Floyd."

 **0246 Hours**

 **Hilton, London Heathrow Airport, Koko's Suite**

I didn't realize how late it really was as I checked my watch when I got to our floor. I would definitely have to make up for one of the guys shifts whenever I caught an hour or two for a nap. First ones I saw were Ugo and Mao on patrol in the halls, they glanced over immediately when they saw me as Ugo tucked his MP5K back under his jacket.

"Where the hell have you been man? Your shift is in less than ten minutes." He asked frustrated from concern and lack of sleep.

"It's ok man nothing happened but uhh…I had someone talk to me and I can't mention who. That's all you guys need to know."

"Yeah what's her name so I can tell Valmet?" Mao said not believing me.

"Guys seriously, I ain't bullshitting you. I can't tell you. Anyway I'll be back in a few minutes, let me grab a snack and my shotgun."

I walked past them to my room letting them know I was serious. I also had to prepare for the inevitable death stare I was gonna get from a certain knife wielding killer.

"Is everything ok Damien?" Mao asked in concern.

I stared back smiling awkwardly. "I'll let you know soon, depending on how many visible injuries I have."

They both knew what I was getting at and proudly left me to my fate as I entered my room using the light from my phone to see where I was going. Naturally it was very quiet and I knew I was being watched, so I just grabbed my shotgun and a protein bar as quietly as I could and then left the room without even taking a minute. That was easier than I thought, it looked like I was in the clear. Until when I left the room and felt an ominous presence behind me, I then let out a sigh that I had been caught.

"Ok Sophia I get it I was out too late but I-"

"Sorry big guy but you got lucky tonight."

I turned around and it was R. Looks like I could breathe a little easier until morning.

"Ehh not really, still gotta look at your ugly mug until dawn."

He ignored the quip and we started our patrol. "The guys said you ran into someone you can't mention. It wasn't uhh…you know?"

"No man nothing like that, if it was I would have called you guys immediately. But uhh…is she mad at me?"

He knew who I was referring to. "She was pouting at first but after a while she was kinda waiting on you. She couldn't stay awake so she went to sleep in Koko's room. Looks like you're by yourself again man."

"Sucks I can't make breakfast this morning, something chocolate based would make up for it."

"Since you've started working with us you should know that she's not like most women who can be bought off with sweets, Koko maybe but not Valmet. But anyway, what's with the secret meeting? It's just the two of us man I won't tell anyone."

I stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone else. I could tell one and only one and I think he would understand. He would also back me up in case if one of the crew got too persistent. But he was only gonna get one answer and I would sure as hell not tell him anything else.

"You say this to no one, especially Koko." I took a deep breath and sighed quietly. "Floyd."

His eyes widened in shock, no surprise in that. I didn't need to say anything else and walked forward continuing our patrol. I turned around to see him still standing there wonder why HCLI's owner was here in London so close to his daughter.

"That's all you're getting. Come on man we're on patrol."

"Umm…right."

 **1048 Hours**

 **Flight 5714 To Budapest, First Class**

Another boring flight in which I would have problems trying to sleep even from staying up all night. The time it would take for the plane to get to Budapest wasn't long but we would have a three hour layover in Cologne before we got there. Still didn't mean I would have a comfy bed to sleep on. Even with getting an aisle seat to stretch my legs my back was pretty crooked and I kept sliding down onto Tojo who had the window seat next to me.

"Come on that's the third time, I'm trying to work here." He said getting my head off of his shoulder again as he went back to typing on his laptop.

I then scratched my head, too tired to even respond with any of my sarcasm. As I let out a deep yawn, I felt a nudge on my shoulder. R was standing there motioning with his eyes to the rear of the first class cabin. Sofia was sitting by herself, Koko must have went to the bathroom. I knew what he was trying to help me with.

"Appreciate the help bro but she didn't even say good morning to me, I know a losing battle when I see it."

He ignored me. "Just go Damien, you can't build a relationship without doing your damnedest to apologize. At least let her know you care."

"Ugh…shit." I figured I get it over with.

I got up out of the seat, still slightly groggy, walked to her and asked her when she turned her head to me.

"Mind if I sit down?"

She didn't answer but stared back out the window. I sat down and tried my best.

"I lost track of time, that's not an excuse. But I did have someone speak to me and that's what took up the most of it. I can't, not won't, can't tell you who. I promised I wouldn't."

She then looked back me neutrally.

"Just cause we accepted your apologies doesn't mean you can keep going off and having your own fun. Always keep business and pleasure separate. And I don't care, I want to know. Who was it that was talking to you that was so secret you can't tell me?"

Naturally I hesitated. I would have told her if it was just us last night but this was gonna happen either way. As I kept silent she gave me a frustrated look and looked back out the window. I was about to say sorry again but another came into our conversation.

"If he says he can't then you should trust him on that." We both turned around, R. "Nothing bad happened and you know he's sorry. So give the poor boy a break."

He ended that with a sly smirk. Who the hell was he calling boy? I'm not really the new guy anymore, but I must have been more tired than I thought since I got a little grumpy.

"Have you gotten any sleep at all?"

I turned back to her. "Not really, can't find a comfortable position for my back, I keep sliding off my seat."

After staring at me for a few seconds she smiled gently and lifted the arm rest separating the seats and took off her seat belt.

"Lay down."

"Excuse me?"

"Put your head on my lap and you can stretch your body out so that you can straighten out your back and put your legs in the aisle. Don't forget to put up the aisle arm rest." She said rather commandingly but still smiling.

I then exhaled through my nose.

"Hmm. Flirt."

"Do it before I change my mind you idiot."

I lifted up the other arm rest and got into position. Not as hot as the way we normally slept together but comfortable none the same. I was actually starting to fall asleep almost immediately. But I was quickly roused awake but I slight jolt to my shin. I opened my eyes and raised my head slightly to catch a flash of long white hair.

"Is she angry cause I stole her seat or that I didn't get back till late?"

"Both but I think she would want you to be well rested for your ass kicking. It wouldn't be any fun if you weren't aware of what was happening to you." She said kindly.

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"We'll how does this feel?" She then hand her hand over my face and pulled back on my nose by the nostrils.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"It will keep hurting and get worse unless you put your head down, now."

In my extreme drowsiness I didn't realize where the top of my forehead was at. I was too damn tired to care at this point.

"Ugh. You're the one who wanted me to lay down. Those things just got in the way. You have only yourself to blame."

She gave one heavy pull and then let go out of frustration. As I gripped my nose in pain she stared back out the plane window.

"I think you should also know I found out the name of that song."

"Ow. Which one? Gotta be more specific. I downloaded a lot of albums this month."

"The one you played at the steel mill."

 _Shit._

I then felt an immediate hole in my stomach. The moment she found out the name I knew that she'd lure me into a trap and I fell for it. I could only imagine what she was gonna do next.

"Why did that make you immediately think of me?" She said tapping her fingers on my stomach, probably about to punch it.

"I…uhh…urhm…I got nothin."

Nothing that I could say out loud, and to be fair she can't really hide a pair of tits like that. Fake or not.

"God why do I even bother with you?" She said sounding defeated.

I then moved my head to her knees so that she could see me better.

"Cause I have no reason to be afraid of you. And besides you know they're awesome." I said winking.

She then returned a smile while grabbing my head and pulling it to her stomach. "Well I will find one reason someday. Now sleep Captain."

"Heh heh, yes Major."

 _For being a cold and hardened killer, she's very soft and warm. Irony much?_

 **1200 Hours**

 **Budapest, Hungary, Cutthroat Safehouse**

The Special Activities Division of the CIA were picked from the absolute best in the Special Forces groups from all of the United States Military's branches. Marine Recon, Delta Force, The Green Berets, Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Air Force PJs and CCTs. Each one brought their own special set of skills to conduct the harder field operations behind enemy lines for the CIA for one purpose, to win. That didn't mean they had to play by the rules. Even with the accusations and finger pointing by certain rights groups about the use of torture to extract information as well as the War Diary leak. They continued on their tasks as if nothing happened, cause no one really had any type of authority to stop them. With Hex's crew they would just ignore them flat out and probably kill them later because they were becoming an annoyance. This team was called "Cutthroat" and they earned their name well with the countless amounts of "suspected" terrorists that they assassinated. Their methods bordered on Gestapo tactics and mercy was definitely not among their personalities. This is what Hex wanted, a perfect crew to conduct the elimination of terrorists and their masters from the world forever on behalf of the United States. This would be her most difficult challenge yet, seeing that she had finally grown weary of her target simply not wanting to die.

"What time will the target be arriving?" She asked the whole group as they were preparing for the upcoming fight.

"Flight left out of London Heathrow exactly two hours ago and will be arriving in Budapest at 1700 hours." Said one of the Cutthroats on his computer, a portion of his face looking like sandpaper from an IED blast.

"Good, we'll let them get comfortable first so not to arouse suspicion. We have to isolate them from the rest of the group though, if they call in the rest of their team this will turn into a mess. We have to just make sure that one of them dies but you know who is priority."

"Ma'am I just got the conformation number from our dealer about the ammo. He'll be here in thirty with about 9,000 rounds." Said another Cutthroat as he hung up his cell while adjusting his high and tight ponytail.

"Let me know when he gets here. I'll be my room cleaning my rifle."

Hex then went to her room and shut the door. But instead of going to her rifle she went to her computer first. She then brought up his file, classified above top secret. The only three confirmed photos of him in the last two years were blurred but they had eye witness confirmation. The only clear one was his official Army photo when he made Captain. Dressed in his service uniform that highlighted his large athletic form and on his head with a proper regulation haircut, a green beret with the flash of the 3rd Special Forces Group. She then placed two fingers on the screen.

"I wish I could tell you that this wasn't personal Damien, but you really don't know what you're getting yourself into. Operation Under Shaft will fail because the CIA is feeding that monster you care about so much. You probably want to go home but you don't realize that you are aiding in its fall. I won't allow that to happen. Despite the bad blood between your father and I, I didn't hate you. But he compared my methods and attitude to the very scum I hunt and destroy. How dare he think that I'm someone like Koko Hekmatyar! I'll show him and I'll show Bookman that I was right. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing this for my country. The one you decided to betray and abandon, Nightmare!"


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: A Spy Among Friends**

 **September 24th 2010 1100 Hours**

 **Budapest, Hungary**

As he walked along the Danube River that divided the city R was beginning to grow frustrated. He had put in a text to Bookman about details on Hex just before they left for Budapest and he still did not call him back. When information is needed or is in danger of being compromised, speed is everything. It was what Black had taught him when he had rescued his contact and his family in Bosnia when he first started working with him. Now a mad agent was gunning for his crew, he didn't need to figure out that she had to have been the reason for all the recent attempts on their lives. Whether or not she cared she was about to ruin an important operation and his life was on the line too. While he worked only for Bookman, he wouldn't allow anyone to threaten the lives of his friends.

Now officially out of patience he dialed in his number.

" _Hello R."_ Bookman said casually.

"About goddamn time you picked up! I sent that text the other day! You told me that speed was everything well so much for that!"

" _I thought you would understand that the delay in my response meant that you asked a question that I can't answer. She's a deep cover agent and that's all I can say. You know how this goes, I wouldn't tell anyone about you either."_ He said without changing his tone.

"Deep cover my ass! She's acting right out in the open, not only did we have run ins with her assassins but she deliberately exposed herself. She's going to try again soon and this time she won't stop. Are you seriously telling me you're ok with some rouge agent screwing Operation 'Under Shaft'?"

There was a slight pause during the call. R knew that had hooked him.

"Because you told me you were going to get to the bottom of this." R said in a demanding tone.

" _Alright R. I'll call you back."_

 **5 Hours Earlier**

 **Danubius Hotel Gellert**

First thing I did when I got out of bed was take a picture of the sunrise over the city from where the hotel was overlooking the Danube, Budapest was one of the places I was itching to see. It was somewhat refreshing to be hit by the cold morning air as I took a deep breath when the air outside hit my bare face and chest.

Originally the three cities of Buda, Pest, and Obuda, they united into one city in the later 19th Century as part of the dual capital of the Empire of Austria-Hungary. The foundation of the entire city though stretched all the way back to 1 AD when a certain ethnicity of marauding barbarians, who were also part of my ancestral heritage, known as the Celts wanted to build a town for trading. And like most cities of the ancient world it had been through almost every war fought in Europe. It was later occupied by the Roman's who were then driven out by the Hun's, then the Holy Roman Empire, then they finally formed the Kingdom of Hungary. However the Ottoman Empire came in and took control of the country for a century and a half. They were later driven out by a unified army of European powers and the Kingdom of Hungary was independent again, for a while.

It wasn't until the latter half of the 19th century that most European nations struggled for independence because of the countless wars that were fought throughout the continent at the time. Putting it in the most simplified version most of the nobilities in Austria and Hungary pooled their resources and negotiated to form a duel empire where they would protect each other from influences and threats by the greater European powers. Thus the Austro-Hungarian Empire was born, which consisted of a great melting pot of different ethnicities, cultures, and nationalities. It was here where I managed to trace my earliest known relatives before they immigrated to the United States. My great-great grandfather was an ethnic Ukrainian and my great-great grandmother an ethnic Hungarian. However like many that had done the mass immigration to America in the later 19th and early 20th centuries most left not only because of wanting to start a new life but to get away from the constant war. They had to have seen the political upheaval that was building in Europe at the time, and low and behold the First World War erupted. It was during that time that the first generation American born of my family was drafted into the trench warfare of Europe in 1918. Sad that they escaped the madness, only that it reached across an ocean to be dragged back by it.

But today wasn't a day where I would be thinking about sad things that happened before I was even born. I was gonna take in the sights and hopefully take enough pictures that I could finally start making a second scrap book as I was about to fill the other one up. With so many different landmarks, historical sites and food to sample the next few days were gonna be busy, and that wasn't including Koko's meeting with this Hungarian Air Force Colonel tomorrow.

After I was done taking a few good shots I scrolled through them on the camera and deleted the ones I didn't like or were too fuzzy to make out. I headed back inside rubbing my arms to get some warmth back on them and noticed that the bed was empty. I then heard running water from the bathroom and made towards the sound, Sophia standing there in her shorts and sports bra that highlighted her curves perfectly. But she was running a washcloth over her scarred eye and I was standing in her blind spot so that she didn't notice me. I hardly saw her without her medical patch over it so it was rare that I saw her whole face unblocked. She then hooked her hair, that was starting to gain length again, behind her ear. I saw a small scar that cut slightly across the left side of her eye, it was almost entirely solid white, which indicated that the eye itself was deliberately targeted and was ruptured from when Chan ambushed her and her company. When she put her patch back on I figured I would get something that would cover her face a little less. I then said good morning.

"If I went blind right now and this image was the last thing I ever saw, I'd be fine with that."

She then turned to me with the annoyed smile she commonly made whenever I came out with my sarcasm. She then threw the wet washcloth at my face.

"Thanks for waking me up by letting all the heat out."

"You said to wake you up before or around six, you didn't say how." I said with the cloth still on my face.

Still standing in the doorway I heard her walk to and stop in front of me, she took the cloth off my face and we both gave each other a good morning kiss. It was then I realized that this had been one of the most peaceful mornings I've had in a while, but it was also very alien to me. My normal mornings were like I just passed out in my clothes and I didn't give a shit on what time I woke up the next morning. Despite how good I am at my job, I often lounged around as a bum unless I was doing exercise or doing shooting practice. But now I had someone to make me get my day started.

"Get dressed, you said you wanted to do the tourist thing today." Sophia said as she walked by me to get her knife and Sig from her suitcase.

 _I'm surprised she wants to do that. She always falls asleep whenever I talk history._

 **1120 Hours**

R knew he couldn't stay isolated from the group for long or else they would start to suspect something. But no matter what was happening he was racing against the clock. He knew in his gut something was going to happen again. And if Hex succeeded then 'Under Shaft' would not only be ruined but Koko would have become totally unhinged in a way that would be similar to Damien's outburst against Karen Low. Only difference was that Koko had a reach that expanded across two continents.

It was no secret that the team knew that there was a bit of a triangle going on between Koko, Valmet, and Damien. But simple things like emotional drama in relationships always worked themselves out whenever the three of them found a common ground to land on. None of them hated each other. Despite the backgrounds, knowledge, nature, and attitude of the crew they worked together as a family. Damien had had their backs in every engagement they've had, he had saved Koko's life more than once, and he turned from outcast to the man to lean on whenever things went sour. Despite being designated as a threat to US national security by the CIA, R trusted him more than they did as he saw in person of what Damien truly was. He was a damaged soul in search of need, and Koko provided it.

His return phone call finally came. He let Bookman go first.

" _R, you are my right arm and Hex is my left. So as such she will continue to play a critical role in all of my departments activities so she's staying for the long haul. Especially since that left arm is attached to a fist that smashes terrorists."_

Frustrated, R knew that Hex enjoyed her job a little too much. Damien had told him that she probably just killed for herself and not her country.

" _If she wants a "sacrifice" we'll give it to her. Technically speaking he's already dead, she'll just say that she found his remains. He never had anything to do with this operation and even though he kept Hekmatyar alive that doesn't mean that he's not responsible the deaths of multiple agents and caused a breach in our intelligence network. That's not including the people he's associated with since he, by legal terms, committed treason it's only added to his list of crimes. The Nightmare is a very real threat R, so it's time for us to wake up from it. "_

That meant one thing to R. Damien's life was in danger and a bloodbath was inevitable.

 **3 Hours Earlier**

 **Outside the Hotel**

The meeting with Colonel Shimunik wasn't until tomorrow morning so Koko figured she'd give Damien the tour of Budapest. She knew that he liked to take in all of the historical sites and keep adding pictures to the scrapbook he was making. She had taken a look at it one day when he was exercising on board the _Fruition,_ there were a lot of good shots from when they were around the cities they visited and a few humor filled ones of the crew while they were drinking, in front of famous landmarks, and a few candid ones that highlighted the crew in their norms. But most of them were when they had Valmet in them, he only had a few that had her in them. This was the first time the two of them would be together by themselves since Dubai and he didn't have his camera with him at that time. She wanted to make sure he had some good memories of her as well. Except she had to try and get by someone who was close to him and it was the one woman who she saw as her sister. She didn't feel like taking him from her but she did say to him that he belonged to only her and she said to her that she would do anything for her. As the rest of the crew had already gone out for the day to kill time, she grabbed Valmet and asked to talk to her out of ear shot of everybody.

"What's up Koko?" She asked.

"Why don't you go with Wiley and Lehm today? I'll take Damien out to see the sights around town." Koko said as straight as she could.

"I already said I'd take him on the tour, why?"

"Cause I want to." She said in her usual smile.

"If you want to come with us I won't argue, I'll just tell him you asked us to protect you again."

Valmet then went to leave but Koko grabbed her arm.

"Valmet please. I want to be with him today."

She asked as if she was somewhat begging. But as they both locked eyes Valmet knew what she truly meant. She then formed her lips into a straight line and faced her.

"I suppose this conversation was going to happen sooner or later."

"I won't tell you to but please can I have him for just today?"

"Have him? He's not a car you can borrow, and besides I think he made his choice."

"I told you that he belongs to me."

She approached her in her all business mode. She never used her authoritive tone on her, it caught Valmet by surprise. Knowing that she was being challenged on someone taking her lover she closed the gap.

"Koko…I know that you like him. But you took too long and he eventually drifted from you. When I first asked you that he and I could have a room together I was surprised that you did that. But whatever you planned out didn't work and he's made his choice, think about what he wants."

Koko then shut her eyes, tilted her head down for a moment and then looked back up to her best friend. She didn't want to say what she wanted to say next but now she had no choice.

"Did you tell him you love him?"

Her one eye widened at the question. "I…I don't…"

"Then you haven't made that much of a commitment yet. Anybody can have a few passionate nights together but unless you say it, then it doesn't mean anything." Koko said cutting her off.

"Not that it's any of your business but you don't really know the first thing about relationships."

Despite their nature that they often acted as childish sisters, they were both fiercely loyal to each other never got into any type of heated argument unless they had all of the facts to back it up. Both women then stared at each other intensely. They both wanted the same man, but only one would get him.

"I remember a long time ago that you would do anything for me. No matter what, I always asked something from you but this time I want to call in the favor. Just for today."

Despite how close the two had gotten in the last two months, she had known Koko a lot longer than Damien. They both formed a true sisterhood based on literal blood, sweat, and tears. Valmet knew she owed Koko for helping her unlock the world but she didn't think that she would ask her to do something like this. Then the man in question came to get her to go around the city.

"Koko! Sophia! Everyone's left and I'm about ready to go, you two alright?" He asked putting on his leather jacket.

"Ahh Damien yes." She then rushed to him leaving Valmet before she could say anything. "I want to be the one to show you around town today, let's go to the Parliament building first."

She then closed the gap and took hold of his left arm in the cuddling move she normally used with him. He then looked back to Valmet giving him the look of what hell he was doing.

"I appreciate it Koko, but Sophia was gonna do that with me today." He said trying to brush her off.

"Please? Just for today?" She said in a begging tone and then pulled his head down to her so she could whisper in his ear.

"I just want to talk to you about a few things. Then you and Sophia can have the rest of the time we have here off."

Naturally she was lying to try and win him over, and her little fib worked. Surprised that he could get another quick three day break that easily, he then turned his attention to Valmet.

"You don't mind? I will make it up in some way, shape, or form. I promise. Besides, you don't like the history stuff anyway, I'd be boring you all day."

Valmet then looked at him neutrally and then back to Koko, who winked at her slowly as if not to worry, and then looked back to him.

 _Don't steal him from me._

"You owe me dinner. And I'm going to pick where we go." She said sternly.

She then walked away quickly past the both of them. Damien looking at her confused.

"What was that about?"

"I'll let you know later. Onward Captain Damien!" Koko said pointing in the direction they wanted to go but Damien didn't budge.

"Hold up, not yet. You do know I wanna walk around the city." Damien said as if he were insisting on matter of fact.

"Yeah and were burning daylight, so let's go!" She said tugging at his arm with both her hands.

"Then put on a pair of sneakers, you'll have blisters the size of golf balls if you wear those heels the whole day."

As he pointed towards her feet, Koko then looked down and then back up to Damien with an embarrassed look.

"Ok let's go back up to the suite, five minutes I swear."

As they both left to go back inside, Valmet was watching them from the side of the building. She then turned to leave and then texted Lehm to see where he was at. While the message was simple, her method of putting a little extra pressure on the phones screen was apparent that her jealousy was coming out again.

 **1125 Hours**

R was now beginning to double time it back to the hotel. If Bookman wasn't going to help him then he would have to ensure that he and Damien would have a better chance to fight back and defend Koko with the appropriate amount of firepower. Knowing Damien liked to be prepared for anything, he always brought more than what was necessary. But R hoped it wouldn't come to that, collateral damage was something he wished to avoid.

"You can't be serious. You think I'm just gonna hand him over to Hex and start a fucking war in the middle of Budapest!? I won't do it. And if you allow him to be killed, you will flush 'Under Shaft' right down the shitter!"

" _You don't say? How do you figure?"_ Bookman said unfazed by the colorful choice of words.

"Saw, think about it for a moment. Why would she bring in someone like Damien? Somebody incredibly dangerous and unpredictable into her line of work? She's always logical and cautious but she took a big and deliberate risk with him. Sure he has his uses as a Green Beret, but that doesn't make it smart considering his history and that he's placed on a top secret kill list by the company."

" _All good points but so what?"_

"He actually manages to calm her, he channels her emotions through himself and in the process she calms him dispelling that fury that's made him into the infamous Nightmare. They both act as limiters for each other. I've seen on how he's radically changed since he started to work with us. He was anti-social, never smiled, kept it strictly business, but he opened up to us and showed that he was a victim of his own anger and he wants to redeem himself."

" _Limiter huh? So he's not the wild card you thought?"_

"No he's not. Koko has a huge plan that no one else knows about and by bringing in a man who's been alone, terrified, and had to fight in every way possible just to survive she's creating a path to reconnect with her humanity and maybe a path to even abandon those plans and her life as an arms dealer. The same can be said with Damien, he wants a chance to fix all the mistakes he's made in his life and he sees that Koko can help him. To stop fighting and live a peaceful life again. Beneath both of their fierce personalities they still have the same needs and wants like any other man and woman."

" _R your starting to sound like a cross between a shrink and a matchmaker. That's not your job, it's providing intel on her. Don't start dancing to her tune."_

R chuckled as he finally reached the hotel and made towards their suite.

"I will admit, they're fun to hang around with, and hell running guns is fun. But if anyone wants to dance with the little lady, it's totally you Saw. You said it yourself that you don't want her to become a monster. And don't lie to me, your dying to see what her plans truly are and how it's gonna work out."

" _You know me to well R."_ Bookman then started a rather hearty laugh. R realized that now he had a major player to back him up when the fight started. So that is what he focused on now.

"Please Saw, tell me where Hex is."

 **One Hour Earlier**

We were making a big circle around the city so far. Despite it being that Fall was finally arriving it was actually a rather sunny day out today. We started off by walking across the Erzsebet Bridge to the other side where we began walking through what appeared to be the nightlife section of Budapest. We decided to hurry through there because there was nothing that was of interest until dark anyway. Plus we weren't really there to do the clubbing scene. After grabbing some coffee we made our first stop to St. Stevens Basilica before we headed off to the Parliament Building. I was filling up the camera rather fast and we hadn't even hit the whole town yet. The next thing I wanted to get some shots of the Labyrinth but that was on the other side of the river. I figure that once we did that we'd head through the castle district and call it a day. It was however a bit of an awkward day whenever I got pictures of both Koko and me together. She was grabbing on to me a little tighter and sillier than usual. With the way we were talking the whole morning and afternoon it honestly felt like a date. I said it before that I'd be lying if I said that she wasn't attractive. And the way that we talked to each other was a great blend of random topics that ranged from intellectual to somewhat cringy toilet humor.

But what I kept thinking this whole time, even from when she first took me in, is what in the hell did she see in me? Even though I've started to not be so hung up on the past I can't erase it. I've killed people in fits of blind rage, multiple intelligence agencies want my head on a platter, I deserted from the Army, I abandoned my family, and at my core I'm a bit of a coward. That being said I'm amazed that Sophia and I have lasted as long as we have. I will always hold on to my beliefs that I have the ability to make a choice for anything. But sometimes those choices don't have the best outcomes for everyone. It's one of the reasons the whole world is as fucked up as it is. We're becoming too reliant on technology, uneducated masses think that we can befriend evil, poor nations continue to be poor no matter how much aid they get, opinion means that you're labeled as an extremist, dictators continue on with their regimes committing their crimes out in the open. The list of idiotic choices are endless and it's not just in the United States or Europe or any first world nation. I want to go home one day, but not back to the sheer ridiculousness it was becoming.

"Hey what's wrong, why'd you go back to your doom and gloom face? That part you told me about Batman gut punching that ketchup guy was hysterical."

While on our lengthy walk to the other side of the river we started talking about old TV shows and one of my favorites as a kid was Batman The Animated Series. I'm the furthest thing from what you might call a nerd but everyone who's anyone knows of DC Comic's super heroes and villains. But what I didn't realize until much later that the comic book companies tended to make stupid new stories and characters. It was the reason comic books took a tremendous dive and only now they're starting to make a bit of a comeback with all the movies that were coming out in the last few years.

"Condiment King. And yeah he was probably the only villain that Batman beat the crap out of just for being fucking stupid. Come to think of it I don't even know why I know that. Sometimes whatever knowledge I know is very sporadic."

"Well think of it as a way that adds to your unpredictability. It helps keep things fresh."

"Whatever." I then took out my camera and started scrolling through the pictures to see if any came out too fuzzy or had any sun glare. Koko then leaned over to look.

"You really like history don't you?" She said looking up to me wanting to know why.

"I've always had a fascination with the major events and people that shaped the foundation for the world we know today. Things that were revolutionary in their way of influencing the outcome of events for the world and there are so many of them. I mean sure knowledge itself is infinite but I liked how they're portrayed as stories that you just want to listen to them. Like Marco Polo's travels through Asia, The Crusades, The Ming Dynasty, Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, and of course-" I then flexed my right arm. "The good ol' USA."

She then chuckled. "Kind of ironic don't you think? You like reading up on people but you still have that antisocial vibe. Why's that?"

She already knew the answer to that question, I told her about it when we first met. That I wanted to make a great impact on the world but everyone that surrounded me was ignorant to the point where there was no good or evil just different levels of selfishness. And all too often the price for what others gained was in human misery or death. So I just ignored everyone around me unless they had something to with me getting my shit done for the day. But Koko managed to actually get me to open back up to people. Be more like my old self before I went crazy. To actually balance myself between warrior and man. But even though she never explicitly said it, her actions were a dead giveaway. I learned long ago that there's a difference between being flirtatious and showing genuine affection. I had to also learn the hard way whenever a few girls I hung out with during my teenage years got me to buy stuff for them and then they barely spoke to me after that. But despite me learning more things about Koko she still maintained that aura of mystery about her. She's the one person in my life who I can't really read. I need to ask if I wanted something out of her. But it looked like now was that time I'd be asking the big question. I had to be up front, but I had to ask it in a proper way that would lead into it.

"In the past I was kinda choosy who I decide to associate myself with. No matter what anyone says respect is always earned and never given. But I find it odd that those who don't know me can approach me and talk to me just because they can." I stopped walking and then looked to her. "Why is it you can do that? What do you really see in me?"

She blanked as I asked her the question but smiled like normal.

"I just think you're an interesting person, that's all."

She said that like she was being 100% honest. But I knew it couldn't be that simple unless I was missing something entirely.

"Koko…I'm a psychological wreck, I kill people all the time, I have almost as many enemies as you do, and if by some ungodly miracle I even find a way out of the life I'm in I can't do anything else. Much less even know anything else, being a soldier is all I ever wanted to be. I can't-"

"Stop it." She said cutting me off while wrapping her arms around me.

 _What is she doing now?_

"I don't care about what you have done. I'm no different from you Damien, I'm an arms dealer I'm the furthest thing from a good person but that doesn't mean I don't want to live my life. I like you for you and…I wouldn't mind if you were always with me."

 _What the hell? Is she saying she likes me?_

"You don't need to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life if you don't want to work with me. And you can do more than just fight, I only want you to promise me one thing."

It took me a few moments to formulate a response. She was being more open with me than she ever had.

"Umm…what is it?"

"Promise me you'll always be by my side."

That was something I didn't want to hear. Looks like she truly wanted me all to herself. But unfortunately, someone had beat her to it. I put my hands on her shoulders as she looked up to me.

"Koko I think you're amazing. You saved my life and I will be forever grateful but I can't be in _that_ type of relationship with you and it's not just because I care about Sophia."

She then looked at me as if I just broke her heart. "Why?"

"While your brother just sent me to you as a way for me to pay for throwing a wrench into his business, you took me in and made me feel part of something special without hesitation. You gave me a home, you gave me a family, and eventually a lover. I owe you more than you can possible imagine and I do not want to take the risk of hurting you or making you angry. And you were right about another thing, I almost ruined that when I attacked Low and I don't want to do that again. It's only now that I realized how much of a colossal fucking idiot I was when I did that."

I then slowly pushed her away from me. "The reason I can't, is because you gave me back my life."

That was real hard to do, and what was even harder was when she was looking at me with hopelessness. I care not only about her and Sophia but the rest of the guys as well. Even before the Army I had never formed a bond with anyone, I was solely focused on achieving success. But the one bond that was stronger than Koko was Sophia, I couldn't betray her like that.

"I'm sorry. But don't believe that I'm just gonna up and leave all of ya. You broke that raging monster. I can start being human again." I then hunched over to be face to face with her. "Forgive me?"

The hopelessness faded, and that smile came back. "How much further are we from the Labyrinth?"

I leaned back up and pulled out my phone. "We keep heading this way should be about another fifteen minutes."

 **1132 Hours**

He was sprinting from the river to the hotel and even though it was slightly cold outside R built up a sweat. He couldn't hide it, so he figured he make something up if he saw anyone of the crew. Some of them had come back from their walk. Lutz saw him as he was exiting the elevator and heading to their room.

"Hey R. You alright? You look out of breath?" He asked.

"Running during the mid-day is actually pretty effective. I just got back and then I'm gonna head out and relax." His other phone then began to ring. "Gotta take this, later."

R did his best to sound like he was not in a hurry but time was not on his side. Fortunately Bookman was calling him back and gave him some time to not look suspicious. He went to his room and grabbed his backpack and then Damien's while talking to Bookman.

" _Ok R I've got her location. She's setting up an ambush in the Castle District. She has approximately eighteen heavily armed men with her. Hekmatyar and Andrushko are heading right toward them. She just received a call from someone claiming to be her buyer as part of the ambush to lead her into Hex's trap. I'll stop her and I'll send in a call to the local police."_

"Got it. I'll call you back soon."

As R loaded Damien's rifle into his pack he let out a dissatisfied grunt.

"Damn cops won't do shit against a SAD unit."

He then grabbed the keys for one of their rental cars and hurried to the elevator while debating on dialing in Koko's number. The castle district was too far away to run so he had to speed through and hopefully not get pulled over by the same police that were supposedly going to help him. But the one problem was what to tell Koko.

 _What do I do? If I tell her she's heading into an ambush she'll figure out I'm a mole. Goddamnit Saw, you say Hex is your left arm but it's an arm that doesn't listen to its head! Aw fuck it._

He then got to the garage and ran to their car. He decided to risk it and at least know where Koko and Damien were.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey little lady. How's the tour going?" R said with feigned innocence.

" _Good so far. Everything ok?"_

R knew that wasn't true. "Just fine. Only wanted to check in, where you guys at now?"

" _Aww how sweet! We ok, just a few blocks away from the Military Museum and then we're heading back to the hotel. I just got a call from Colonel Shimunik for tea."_

R knew that he had to floor it. She wasn't that far from Hex's ambush.

"OK. I'll see you soon. Caio."

He then hung up and blasted through a stop sign, not caring about the blaring horn's behind him.

 _If I'm gonna blow my cover I'll do it killing Hex. Sorry guys, it was fun hanging out with you all._

 **1145 Hours**

It was a good coincidence that Koko's buyer had invited us for tea, but I was kinda hoping for a free lunch. I was getting tired of walking anyway and I figured that she could also use it as a distraction from shooting her down earlier. She carried on with her normal care free self though, but this time she hadn't let go of my arm for the last ten minutes. We were kinda drawing eyes from the people on both sides of the street, they must have thought we were lovers out on the town.

 _She still wants to keep trying huh? I'll give her points for being stubborn._

We were approaching a T intersection and I saw a gold colored convertible. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a Bentley, whoever that was had some serious money. Who was sitting in the driver's seat was an older man so I figured businessman and he wanted to use the car on probably the last somewhat decent day of the year as the sun was starting to make it a tad warmer. But it looked like he parked in a tow away zone as I saw several cops approach the car. At first I paid no mind, until the older guy leaned back and I saw his lady companion. My blood froze instantly.

 _Oh fuck._

"Damien? Everything alright?" Koko asked cautiously.

"Not in the least, we need to run, call Lehm." I said calm and fast.

I had kept an eye out all day but I had forgotten one of the most important things from my training. It didn't matter what it was, when you're almost done with a task the most preventable shit tends to happen and it can be life threatening if you're not careful. I then turned around to try and blend into the crowd but I then realized I was surrounded. A man grabbed Koko's phone out of her hand's.

"You're not calling anyone!"

I grabbed Koko's shoulder to get her behind my while reaching under my jacket to grab my .45 but then I had a sharp pain from the back of my left knee. I immediately had a dead leg and buckled down to the street and the thug in front of me booted me in the face. I then looked up to another thug with a nightstick and a third with Koko in a chokehold. The one with a nightstick then stomped on my gut while the one who booted me then pulled out a syringe and then got on top of me.

"Say goodbye Nightmare."

They must have wanted to take me down as fast as possible, so they cut a few corners it trying to kill me. He brought the syringe down but I had no real effective way to block it. Since he was either gonna hit my chest or neck I held my hand up and he hit that instead. The needle pierced through my hand but pain was the last thing I cared about. I grabbed his wrist with my free hand and used the leverage of my legs to toss him behind me with a reverse summersault throw with me landing on top of him. I then brought my knee down onto his neck, he let out a choking gurgle. The thug with the night stick then charged at me while swinging the nightstick down hoping to hit me in the head. But used my forearm to block the strike while pulling out my .45 and putting two rounds into his chest and putting one in the head of the bastard I was on top of. The shots then started causing panic among the crowd, I used that time to take the needle out of my hand but there was a very sharp pain in my left arm. The bastard definitely cracked it but I'd have to power through it. Koko was still in the grip of Hex's third goon and he was hunched down while holding her, I didn't have a clear shot.

"Let her go fuck face!"

The creep then chuckled. "Looks like we do this easy way."

I then heard more gunfire, this time it was automatic. Hex was shooting the cops around her car. But she wasn't aiming at me after that. In my tunnel vision of focusing on Koko, I didn't hear the black SUV screech to a halt next to us. I then turned to them but they already had the drop on me, two men armed with assault rifles came out of the driver and passenger doors. I then turned back to Koko, her face said it all, we were both about to die.

"I'm sorry Koko."

"Damien!" she said almost sobbing.

I shut my eyes hard and braced for the inevitable. But the fire that came was from much further out, followed by the shouts of two men being torn apart by bullets. Thinking quickly I turned back to the thug holding Koko pointing my gun at them both.

"KOKO!"

She then stomped on his foot and wrestled from his grip just enough to give me a headshot. It made its mark and Koko got out of his grip and ran to me. I then heard a familiar voice from behind us.

"DAMIEN! KOKO! GET OVER HERE!" R was pouring covering fire two cars down from where the SUV was and we bolted to him.

"Thanks man. You're a lifesaver…AW SHIT!" I gripped my arm in pain.

"You ok?" He asked handing me a backpack.

"I can still shoot, but we need to go now! It's her."

We then got hit with more automatic fire. There were two more shooting from the SUV. But as I was rummaging through R's pack I saw what I wanted to see, they wouldn't expect this. Making sure it was loaded, I flipped the safety off, took aim and fired.

 _ **THUWMP! BOOM!**_

The grenade hit its mark and the front of the SUV exploded. Hex's two goons caught in the blast of shrapnel.

"Nice."

It looked like fight was about to kick into high gear. But as I kneeled down to figure out a plan to run, R spoke up while looking at us apologetically.

"Koko, Damien, I need you both to listen to me. This whole time I've been working for Bookman, I'm a spy. And I am so sorry."

I couldn't even process what the fuck I just heard. The CIA was right next to me the whole time? I couldn't think of anything to say, Koko was no different, it looked like her world was crumbling apart.

"After I take out Hex I'll disappear, you'll never need to see or hear from me again. And Damien, I swear I didn't tell the CIA anything about you, not till much later. You're not the Nightmare they claim you to be, I know that for a fact."

Before I could respond we got hit with another barrage of gunfire. They were advancing on us, having no time to deal with the massive information dump that just landed on my head I then looked to Renato with the same trust we shared for the last year and both stood and returned fire at Hex's thugs. Koko shouting as we lit them up, agreeing with her completely.

"Damnit Hex. I'LL KILL YOU!"


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Loyalty**

 **September 24 2010 0615 Hours**

 **Langley, Virginia, CIA Headquarters**

The activity going on in tactical operations room was urgent. Bookman was looking at a live drone feed on the monitors of downtown Budapest. A firefight had started out between two CIA field officers in the middle of one of the busiest cities in Europe. Naturally the Hungarian Department of State was raising hell about why the CIA was doing a wild west shoot out in the middle of their capital but Bookman held firm.

"I told you that I will forward all the details to you later. Right now I have a man on sight that will suppress the rouge agent. I'm also sorry for the loss of your officers, I will do everything within my power to ensure that their killers will be brought to justice."

He then hung up his cell phone and then dialed in another number, the one to his former left arm.

" _What do you want?"_ Hex answered annoyed. The sound of gunfire being exchanged in the background between Cutthroat and R.

"You know why. Abort your operation immediately Hex! That's an order!"

She then laughed. _"Sorry but I can't do that chief. In fact I don't think you could have ever stopped me. You said 'Under Shaft' is about making Koko your puppet but I've learned something about her. No matter how hard you try or how much time you spend you will never bring her into your fold. She will become a monster, even if that traitor Andrushko wasn't with her to fuel her fire it will happen anyway. Mark my words your little plan will fall harder than you can imagine. I've been out there and I've seen what our enemy is capable of, you don't understand the mind of a terrorist."_

"Are you finished spouting your nonsense, Linda?"

There was a slight pause on the phone. Bookman then looked back at the monitors, the gunfight still raging, the sounds amplified by his phone.

" _Hmm. I must have made you angry. You hardly ever call me by my first name."_

"You reviled your true loyalties to me, the company, and your country the moment you started shooting at my right arm. I hope the "Nightmare" you created consumes you."

Bookman then hung up and focused back on the live feed from the drone. R and Damien were bounding back from Cutthroat trying to escape. But Hex had them cut off as he saw that down the opposite end of the street there were two men on a rooftop. Knowing what was about to happen he placed a call to one more person, R had backup on the way.

 **1215 Hours**

 **Budapest, Hungary**

We were taking suppressing fire from both sides of the street. R and I could only let out short bursts and we were in a street with no alley ways. We were in a bottle neck, the perfect area for an ambush and there were too many of them. We had no choice but to fall back.

"R! We gotta go! Where's your ride!?"

I saw him returning fire one car over.

"End of the street!"

"Take Koko and go! I'll be right behind you!"

I then managed to score another kill by hitting one as he tried to flank us. I bounded back to the car he was at as he took Koko back to the next. Hex's cronies were continuing to keep the pressure on us but it looked like they were only shooting if they had a bead on us. I then heard Hex's shout even though my ears were ringing from all the random fire.

"Seal them off! Don't let them breathe!"

I kept low as I bounded to the last two cars. I saw R unlock the rental we had but then came two loud and heavy sounding shots followed by a metallic thumps. I then scanned the rooftops at the end of the street. We were screwed.

"SNIPERS! R! KOKO! GET BACK HERE!"

I then laid down suppressing fire on the roof of the one building that they were on and then let loose my next grenade. The blast sent debris and large chunks of concrete everywhere. But then I got hit with more fire from the rear. Luckily Koko and R made it to me and we were stuck in between two cars.

"You guys alright?"

"Yeah, but they shot out my car's engine. Fifty cal at least. You get them?"

"Don't know, but we can't run down that street though, if they're still alive they'll pick us off and we don't have any wheels. We trapped!"

This was the first time I ever felt I had no way out. Even if I called Lehm, they wouldn't know where the snipers were and we were still being hit from up the street. R however realized something and he dialed in his cell again.

"Saw! We need help! Can you access this car's remote start up!? Mine just got shot up!"

After a few seconds the silver sedan I was leaning on came to life.

"Thanks, one more thing. Get Lehm and the others here."

After a few seconds he smiled.

"Grazie vecchio amico." He then hung up. "Already on their way five minutes ago."

"Better get here fast." I said as I was reloading both my clip and my last grenade.

Koko then put her hand on R's shoulder.

"R. It's ok, I don't care if you're a spy. We won't tell anyone, right Damien?"

I smirked at him. "Don't know what the hell you're talking about. I see a friend that just saved our lives."

"Thanks guys. But for now I need you two to run. Ready?"

I cocked my ACR. "Yeah."

"LET'S GO!"

R leaned out of cover to go first and got to the end of the car providing cover fire. I led Koko to the passenger door as she climbed into the driver's seat. But then I heard a yell, R was buckled over and his left leg was bleeding. One of Hex's crew was right on top of us on the other side of the street. Falling slightly back into my rage I took aim with my grenade launcher. My shot hit its mark as I must have hit the gas tank and the back of the car lit up like a match. It was then followed by agonizing screams, the dumb bastard was literally caught in the fire and was wailing around panicking while firing his weapon all over the place. I put a quick burst into him not to end his suffering but to get him to stop shooting.

"Burn bitch. R! You ok!?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Take the little lady and drive!"

"What about you!?"

"When the rest of the guys get here I'll take advantage of the chaos and run. Goodbye Koko, goodbye Damien, it was fun."

He then bolted off towards Hex's thugs without giving me a chance to respond. I then turned back to Koko, I hated the fact that sometimes I had limited choices but I always opted for another one, no matter how dire the situation was. I leaned inside the car as she got into the driver seat and gave her my other .45 I always carried. She looked at me confused.

"You need to run. Don't argue with me just go."

"What? NO! Damien please don't be a-"

I figured I give her what she wanted for the longest time. I wouldn't let my new family suffer any more hardships than it already had. I wouldn't just waste the chance of bringing everyone back alive. We were all going home together. I cupped her face, shut my eyes, and made it quick, simple, and direct. I'd suffer the fallout from Sophia later.

"I'm getting him back. We'll talk things out properly. And we'll send him off to wherever he wants to go knowing we cherish his friendship."

After the shocked look on her face it grafted into her all business mode and she hit me in the chest twice.

"You come back goddamnit! You both come back!"

I leaned out of the sedan and she sped off. Hex's thugs were focusing on R as he was returning fire from the rear of a black sedan on the left side of the street. I then saw another SAD member about to flank him from a delivery van. I then ran from cover firing at him as I advanced towards him, reloading as I hit the van getting into cover and he hit the ground. R then noticed I was to his three.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Doing what I do best, making a choice. Now let's ruin this bitches day! You hear me Hex!?"

As I was shouting in her direction, I heard a very upset response.

"AN-DRU-SHKO!" She said while firing in my direction. R then peeked out to look.

"That her?" He asked.

"Yep."

"She's hot. What is it with you that attracts the opposite sex, seriously?"

"I've been trying to figure that out since I first started shaving. Advance I'll cover!"

With that we began our assault forward. In the lack of any other direction, you always run to the gunfire. It wasn't just my drive as an American to counterattack an ambush rather than retreat. But it also gave you a tactical advantage to throw the enemy into disarray because you were thinking irrationally. Allowing for a level of unpredictability a well-organized plan will not immediately compensate for. The advance was slow but we couldn't rush it, R took one and then I took one. But we didn't know how many more she had.

"R, I don't care that you're CIA! You're my friend above all else." I shouted over to him and got his attention.

"And you're not who other's say you are Damien. You're a nightmare to them, no one else!"

It was the first time I ever felt like that word had an appropriate meaning. Renato was right, I was letting them know not to fuck with me. We then continued our assault but I then got hit with suppressive fire and dove back down for cover. I then heard R scream.

"YOU BITCH! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

He must have spotted Hex. I then heard more fire as I was reloading. If we could get to her it would be over.

"R! I'm advancing, cover!" But I got no response.

"Renato!"

Still no response. I peeked out to see, and my worst fear had come true. Renato was lying face first on the street, horrified I sprinted from cover shooting at anything that was hostile. I then rolled into cover where Renato was at and dragged him to me by his collar.

 _GOD! PLEASE NO!_

There was nothing that I could do for him. The amount of blood that was coming from his body was telltale enough but what sickened me was the hole in the back of his head from the kinetic energy of the round. If anything, his death was quick and painless. But it didn't help it any further on how painful it was that I failed in bringing him back. I didn't make a choice, I made a gamble, and I had failed. I then took out my frustration on the trunk of the car I was crouched behind by punching it.

"GOD! FUCKING! DAMNIT!"

After that the shooting all of a sudden stopped. After a brief moment of pause I then remembered that there was the possibility I was still surrounded. I then turned to look back down the street at the building next to the one I hit with my grenade launcher. I was in their sights.

 _Koko, I'm sorry, I failed._

I let my anger get the better of me again. This time it was gonna cost me my life. I looked directly at the sniper, I would at least let him see that I wasn't afraid of him in my final moment.

 _ **CRASH!**_

I was immediately hit with such force that I was pulled off my crouch from cover and then heard the sound of glass breaking followed by landing on a wooden floor with a body on top of me. The body of a woman to be more precise.

"Saving your ass better not turn into a habit."

Sophia. That lightning speed of hers as well as her strength that gave me a run for my money had pulled me out of the fire by spearing me into a store. She then put her finger on her earpiece.

"Lehm! Lutz! He's clear! Take them out!"

Two seconds later I heard a screech outside. Followed by two sharp cracks, that solved our sniper problem but there was still fire being exchanged in the street. Sophia then looked to me and pulled me up off the floor.

"We have to go Damien!"

I stopped her before we headed back outside.

"Not yet. He's coming with us." I said while pointing to Renato's body outside.

She acknowledged and got on her radio again. "Mao, Tojo, Ugo! Cover Damien! We're leaving!"

I handed her my ACR and the team put coving fire on what was left of Hex's crew. I then picked up Renato's body in the fireman's carry and sprinted down the street towards Ugo's car. I carefully placed him the trunk and I hopped in with him. The rest of the crew regrouped at the car and we sped off, leaving Hex bloodied and beaten. But we fared no better, as we had just lost a friend.

"Wiley and Lutz just got to Koko. She's ok." Lehm spoke up, probably to me.

Knowing it was my responsibility to tell her because of my failure, I then called Koko. She picked up immediately.

"Koko, R's gone."

The silence was what I expected. But now since the adrenaline was wearing off my left forearm was starting to hurt. Possibly a fracture.

" _Understood. Are you ok?"_

"Meet us at the nearest hospital, I need to wrap up my arm."

" _Ok. We'll meet you all there."_ She said calmly, but I knew she was absolutely crushed.

I then hung up and felt a hand on my head, Sophia turned around from the back seat looking at me. No words were needed, no expressions needed to be shown, just a comforting embrace that I really needed.

 **1400 Hours**

 **Kutto Hospital**

After getting my arm wrapped in a cast and bandaging my hand, me and Sophia were with Koko filling out the forms in order ship Renato's body to wherever we were going to give him his funeral. She had handed the doctors there a hefty sum so that they wouldn't ask questions but I had a feeling we couldn't stay in Budapest for much longer. A bunch of dead American SAD agents were all over the Castle District and this was the second major firefight I'd been in in less than a month. We were gonna be front page news if we didn't disappear and fast, but not before R got the recognition he deserved.

Koko then handed the forms to the doctor, all that was left was to get out of Hungary. We then stood up, my wrapped forearm still sore from earlier, to follow her out but then her satellite phone rang.

"Yes? You've got a lock on her location? Good. Do not lose her. If you do I'll kill you myself."

It first struck me a little odd that she had picked up Hex's trail that fast but then I didn't care. I had failed to save Renato's life. It be only fair that I clean up the mess, since I was really the target that Hex wanted dead. I looked at Koko, I wanted to make this right. But I let her go first.

"Remember when I told you on how Echo told me I should be always smiling?"

"Yeah."

"Well R always said that he couldn't tell what I was thinking. That I was hiding my feelings behind a Cheshire grin. That it wasn't necessary, now I don't know what I should do."

I then breathed deep. "You don't need to do anything. I know exactly what to do."

"What are you talking about Damien?"

"I'm gonna bury Hex, I'm done with this shadow that's been following me for two years. Time to shine some very bright light on it."

Sophia then grabbed my shoulder getting my attention.

"Wait a second what do you me she's been following you?" She demanded.

"Short version. She made me out to be some kind of monster to get back at someone else because of her own past failure."

Sophia then looked at me perplexed. "Who?"

"That doesn't matter now. Koko you said you had a fix on her location. Where is she?"

She then stared at me with anger, like I was about to go wild again.

"No Damien! I know what you're thinking and just no!"

"Hex is still out there and I'm not about to let Renato's killer just get away! I failed in bringing him back to us Koko. Please let me do this, just me, and no one else."

As I was pleading with her, Sophia pulled me towards her away from Koko, both of them clearly didn't want me to go anywhere.

"What is it with you pushing yourself so fucking much!? It's not just that you're injured, you need to stop being so arrogant. Why do you think that this is just your problem? R was my friend too, let me and Lehm handle this, you just look after Koko and recover."

I knew that was her way of saying to not do anything stupid but I was gonna make my point stand. I then held both sides of her face and placed my forehead on hers.

"I'm not that easy to kill. Hex is responsible for Renato's death but I was the reason we were ambushed today. I'm gonna clean this up and I'm gonna make good on that dinner you said I owed you. Ok?"

I took my hands off her and she was looking at me frustrated because of my stubbornness that I wasn't going to listen so she knew that there was no way to stop me. She then left out the double doors to the rest of the crew. I then turned back to Koko.

"You told me that you're not a good person. That's true on some extent but not all of it, you have a drive for success that I have never seen in anyone. You have a dream that you're going to make reality and I want to you do that."

I then closed the distance between us and held her close, kissing the top of her head.

"Renato thought the same thing, that's why he gave his life to make sure you lived. I know it in my heart. And I feel the same way and will never leave you alone. Just tell me where she's gone and I'll do this clean and quiet."

She then looked up to me. Probably wondering why I was being so stubborn, but with tears in her eyes. I now had one more reason to kill Hex. Knowing that I wasn't going to listen to her reason she answered me.

"She's currently heading West on E66. She's probably heading towards Austria."

I let her go and then headed towards the exit.

"I'm gonna head back to the hotel and get our other rental car and the rest of my stuff. Keep me posted and I'll see you in probably a day."

It was all tactical mode now, I took a band out of my pocket and wrapped my hair in a ponytail. I was going to walk into a fight properly prepared.

 _You created this monster Hex. Time to show you what it's truly capable of._

 **September 25** **th** **2010 1800 Hours**

 **Gussing, Austria**

Either Hex was really crippled and desperate from the fight or I was extremely lucky. Since yesterday Koko had HCLI track almost her every move since the firefight in Budapest yesterday so I essentially was making a lengthy road trip and not even using any of the tracking skills I had. I was keeping track of the news reports that stated that it was a mob hit that had gone terribly wrong. But I knew that it was a cover story that the CIA had probably told the Hungarians in order to keep a lid on the fact a CIA agent had went rouge. I was thinking it was kinda ironic that I was technically doing the CIA a favor but I remembered I was doing this for Koko and not them.

After I crossed the border into Austria, I got a call from Koko stating that this was the last place they managed to track what was left of Hex's crew. They had ditched that Bentley they had and got away in a less conspicuous BMW, which was parked outside of a pharmacy I was scoping out a car over. Two of Hex's goons were exiting it but she wasn't with them. They were carrying medical supplies, so it appeared that she had to have been injured. It looked like I needed to find out where she was, and I only needed one of them alive. Since they didn't expect me to be out there that soon I exited my car and walked toward them casually with the suppressed Mk23 I borrowed from Lehm. I got in close and shot the one with black hair in the head, the older one with a roughed up face I shot his right leg and left shoulder, he let out a painful yell as he fell to the ground. There were still a few people out and they only then realized what was happening and began to panic and run. I however didn't care as I walked over to the wounded SAD member, punched him in the nose, tossed his gun into the street and flipped him over onto the ground and zip tied him. I then dragged him by his collar over to my car and threw him in the back seat. I then drove away quickly while carefully avoiding the panicking civilians.

 **1810 Hours**

 **The Forests Outside of Gussing**

In order to extract where Hex was I needed to find someplace private but the area I was in was very rural and not a whole lot of places to hide an interrogation so I chose the woods. When you needed to find out information on the bad guys you had to do some things that were rather unpleasant. But the good thing about this though is that I won't really lose my sleep over making this asshole suffer. He associated with the bitch that killed one of my best friends.

After searching him thoroughly for no cyanide and anything of interest I had to wrap up his leg and shoulder to stop the bleeding cause I needed him alive for as long as possible and I also needed to hurry because she would suspect something if they were gone for too long. After tying him tight to a tree I pulled out my knife and began.

"You know who I am and why I'm here so I'm gonna keep this as simple as possible. I'm gonna ask you one question. You will answer that question in a way that I find satisfactory and I will let you live. But if you do not, I will fucking carve you open and leave you here to either bleed out or be eaten alive by the wolves."

The thug with a very rough looking face, probably from a burn or being dragged on a rough surface, exhaled sharply and looked at me with anger and fear.

"So here it is. Where is Hex?"

I knew that this guy was a trained operator like myself, no one got into the type of position he was in unless he was prepared for anything. He wasn't going to blink immediately at the impending use of torture but he was still human, he had limits.

"I'm waiting asshole."

He then spat in my face. "I'm not stupid Andrushko. You're gonna kill me anyway so just do it, or better yet go ahead and start cutting. It only proves how much of a monster you really are!"

I then wiped the spit of my face. "Have it your way."

I grabbed his throat and pressed his head against the tree, taking my knife I slowly started to cut from the right shoulder down across the chest and to the left side of the stomach. All the while his was howling in pain I was very careful not to pierce the flesh or cut too deep. I then implemented the same process by starting on the left shoulder. I had no feelings throughout the process, I was just getting what I needed, it was all up to him to make it less painful.

"This can end very quickly if you tell me what I want to know." I said in my deep voice void of emotion.

"Fuck you! You fucking traitor!" He screamed.

The look on his face meant he was in absolute agony but not broken. What he was just going through was physical pain. It was nothing like the mental torture his boss had cursed on me for the last two years being alone, on the run, ashamed, frightened, and angry that I had nothing left in the world. I then grasped his wounded shoulder pushing my thumb into the bullet wound.

"I may be a traitor, but I'm not a lair. Tell me where she is and this ends."

I took my hand off of his throat and then began the next phase. I slowly than began to cut upward at the center of the X I had carved on his chest. Grasping on the flay I held it in as I then pulled a portion of his flesh upward as I was cutting. All the while, he was shaking violently and screaming at the top of his lungs. This had to be when I was at both my absolute best and worst.

But I could give a fuck. This was one of the bastards that tried to kill me, murdered my friend, and made the woman who gave my life back cry.

"ARRGH! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! STOP! STOP! COUGH!"

"I'm listening." I said as I stopped cutting with my hands covered in blood.

"We have…COUGH…a safehouse in the forest of Steingraben, half an hour west from here. COUGH! There's an old dirt road that leads off the main road that leads to a cottage. That's all."

Satisfied I took a bottle of water and did a quick rinse on my hands and blade, wiping them off with his jacket. I then walked back to my car.

"Hey! Cut me loose! You said you let me live! ANDRUSHKO!"

"I did." I then smirked at him maybe a bit viciously. "But I didn't say that I would let you go."

"You son of a bitch! You'll never get away with this! The CIA will burn you and Hekmat-"

I then shut the door on him to drown out his shouts as I sped away down back towards where Hex's safehouse was leaving him to his fate. I then got on the phone to Koko.

" _Damien?"_

"I need you to do a thermal satellite scan of the area around the Steingraben forest. Hex is hold up there somewhere and I wanna make sure she doesn't run."

" _I'm on it. I'll let you know if she moves."_

"Did you all manage to get away?" I said after fiddling through my iPod. Looking for the new album I downloaded yesterday from Avenged Sevenfold. The album's title and the song seemed appropriate. I decided that for today, I would embrace my curse.

" _Yes. And Valmet is still livid that you went off by yourself. Will you be back soon?"_

"I told you quick and clean. I'll let you know. Bye."

I hung up and then pressed play. The slow ominous tone of chimes that sounded like a babies lullaby. Followed by the rapid fire hit of drums and the tune of an electric guitar. Then the balanced pace of a build where it climbed and climbed until it reached its peak.

 _NIGHTMARE!/Now your nightmare comes to life!_

"Appropriate for you Hex."

 **1845 Hours**

The sun had already set behind the hills and the temperature was beginning to drop. But how hot or cold it was outside never bothered me in a fight, especially if I was in full assault mode. I had pulled up on my GPS the location for the cottage and parked the car off the road a safe distance from it. I then opened the trunk and pulled out my gear. The weight was just the same and I wouldn't be hindered in the slightest. Only difference on it was that I didn't bring my rifle this time, this time I wanted to get up close and personal, I brought along my Super 90. If casual Friday met the US Army then that would be me. I then donned my helmet, hooked on my NVG's and made the rest of the way up the road on foot.

The illuminated green world I was so accustomed to guided me easily around the woods. The cottage was in sight, smoke belching from the chimney from a fire that was going on inside the rather dimly lit cabin. It was a rather nice place with a used feel if you wanted spend a week or so outdoors for a hunting trip. Too bad inside was the source of my misery for the last two years. She was the only one left, all I had to do was go in and do the job.

As quietly as I could I made for one of the windows, peaking inside slightly. I saw the target, but not in the way that I would have expected. Crouched in front of the fire in a fetal position, half of her face bandaged up and her exposed eye vacant. It looked like Renato managed to hit her with a well-placed shot. This would be sad if it wasn't so pathetic. This is what happens when an ambush predator becomes too cocky. They jump on something that's clearly out of their league and they get obliterated. I then heard her speak through the thin window.

"Why me? Why should a patriot be forced to run and hide in a shack like the scum she hunts? What kind of government turns on those that would die to defend it? I am justice."

 _You're nothing but a psychopath using patriotism to cover up your own selfish desire to kill._

It was starting to dawn on me that this wasn't worth my time, but I had a job to do and she was still a threat. If I left her here out of pity, she would come back twice as strong. I just had to get it over with but I couldn't help but want to look her dead in the eye and just tell her how much of a fool she was. Her back was turned against the front door, so I figure I'd make myself at home. I slung my shotgun behind my back and took out one of my .45's, it was the first time I thought that something would have been overkill. I then heard her speak again.

"Damn you Bookman. You sided with a terrorist sympathizer? I didn't want to kill Hekmatyar out of vengeance, I was only doing it for the country I love. She _will_ turn into a monster, she _will_ threaten our country, and when that day comes, I hope you break down and realize I was right."

Slowly opening the door I lifted up my NVG's and had my aim aligned perfectly before I spoke.

"The worst type of person is the one that believes the bullshit coming from their own mouth."

She turned towards me shocked and full of fear. There was no one to keep her safe from the true monster no more than ten feet from her.

"Little refresher of knowledge before we go any further. A terrorist by definition uses violence and murder to force others to accept their way of thinking or take power from other authorities. The best way you can describe Koko is that while what she does costs human life, she's a businesswoman above all else."

She then stared at me with utter hate. Not the first time I've come under its gaze.

"Come to make me suffer haven't you?"

"I'm not as vulgar as you think I am."

She then stood up, probably wanting to die on her feet than on her knees.

"You've really fallen so far from your heritage Andrushko. You were one of the best. Then you pissed it all away."

"That may be true but she caught me and pulled me back up."

"Into a world where money is exchanged for human life." She countered.

"It's the bastard at the other end of the gun that kills people and she is nothing like the scum that goes around slaughtering people like you do."

She smirked arrogantly. "What makes you any different?"

"None. I know my anger consumed me, and I have only myself to blame. I'm a killer and a coward, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to right my own mistakes. You see I believe in this little thing called choice. And I choose to be her protector because she's given me back my life."

"You're unbearably naïve." She said with frustrated annoyance.

"Because you think you know the minds of terrorists? I don't have time to argue philosophy with a homicidal cunt like you. All you need to know is that I'm probably the only man in this world that truly knows what she's really like."

She then looked at me fiendishly. "You're heading towards your own doom Damien. That sweet girl that you think she is will lead you down that path that will not only kill your soul but the country you once swore to defend. You're nothing but a mangy dog listening to his bitch. Once she's truly unleashed her plan on what she really wants, you'll know I was right."

 _ **Bang!**_

The first shot went center mass to the chest, the heavy slug from that close range went through her and stuck into the stone fireplace behind her. She immediately fell to her knees and grasped where she was shot. I closed the distance for the follow up. She looked up at me for one last look, her face composed of fear and pity.

"I doubt that…very much."

Her undamaged eye then widened, probably for one last hope of mercy.

 **12 Years Earlier**

 **March 12** **th** **1999 1300 Hours**

 **Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, 1** **st** **SFG HQ**

" _Sir this doesn't make any sense! Why would they disband us if we were doing so well?"_

" _I don't like the outcome any more than you Lieutenant but this goes above me. I couldn't do anything even if I tried."_

" _Grrr. So that's it? I come asking for your help and you just flat out don't care?"_

" _I have the other candidates to consider, and care is something you've been lacking ever since you first set foot in this damn program."_

" _I was doing my absolute best to prove how much I can achieve! To do what I have to do for my country. Isn't that why all of us are here!?"_

" _You're here to be trained to do a job that few others can do, not achieve glory! Patriotism only can get you so far. Your obsessive behavior and violent attitude have no place in the United States Special Forces."_

" _Isn't violence of action part of our SOP!?"_

" _Let me put this in a way you'll understand. A soldier is a trained, disciplined, intelligent, professional. A murderer is someone that kills out of petty anger."_

" _What do I need to do to prove to you that I can fight better than any man ever could!?"_

" _That you're not a greenhorn full of piss and vinegar. And after you've actually been in combat and know what war is really like."_

"…"

" _If you know what's good for you Lieutenant you'll wipe that fucking look off your face now. You can't pull off the predatory look even if you grew fangs."_

"…"

" _I didn't dismiss you yet Schaeffer! If you want your career to end before it even begins I can arrange that!"_

" _It doesn't matter Andrushko, this is all I ever wanted to do. Serve and protect the country I love from enemies that truly deserve what they get. And you as a Major should know when a fellow soldier is in need. I'm going to prove to you that I'm right and when you see me in the future I will surpass what you've accomplished. I hope that one day you truly feel the pain of losing everything."_

" _Hmpf. From you, I doubt that…very much."_

 **Present Time**

"You are just like your father…COUGH…a blind…cold…bastard."

Even with death ready to grab her, the hatred she had for my father still burned strong. She said he betrayed her, but I think dad saw something horrible in her and stopped her from going any further. Irony is turning out to be quite a theme in my life, he kicked her out of Special Forces but I, who am no better, just took her place. But I wasn't here on my dad's behalf. Since he was still around I knew that he wasn't the type to just keel over and give up. I was here on Renato's and I at least can finally break myself from her curse.

 _ **Bang!**_

Her head whiplashed back and the bullet went into one of the burning logs on the fire sending it, embers, and ashes throughout the small cabin. I stood over her corpse seeing the blood slowly drain from the exit wound onto the floor, the deed was done. But then I started to smell a little more smoke, one of the logs that were hit from the bullet was still burning hot and was on the carpet that was underneath a table. It seems as though my little curse didn't lift immediately, fires did tend to start wherever I was at. But I think this was the devil letting me know that he'd take it from here. I then slowly left the cabin leaving the door open and headed back to the car taking my time. I then pulled out my phone, the glow of the growing fire illuminating the path and some of the surrounding woods.

"Koko?"

" _Yes?"_

"It's done. Where ya'll at?"

" _Naples."_

"See you in a day."

 **September 29** **th** **2010 1830 Hours**

 **Cetara Campania, Italy, The Cliffs Overlooking the Mediterranean**

My flight got a little bit delayed when I was travelling from Vienna to Naples. I forgot about the certain types of "procedures" you need to do in order to travel with your guns. But this evening was going to be the proper funeral we would give Renato. It was a lovely setting that Koko had picked for his grave in the short time that we had to bury him and get him a proper headstone. It was nice and isolated from the rest of the graveyard and had a great view overlooking the sea. The sunset was beautiful with the array of orange, red, pink, purple and dark blue from the sea up.

Even though I was no longer part of the Army, this was the first time I had actually lost a friend in battle. My old team couldn't take that mantel though since I didn't truly form a bond with them in the three months we were deployed and the fact that I betrayed their trust and got them all killed. I wanted to make sure I did this properly though, so before we went I had to get a few things that I could place there with the white roses I bought. A bunch of black feathers to tie it with a dark red ribbon. The ribbon for the colors of his old unit in the 1st Bersaglieri and the feathers for what they wore in their helmets as a ceremonial reminder of when Italy unified into a full country in the 1800's.

"It's a nice touch Damien. He would have liked it."

Koko and I were the last ones to pay respects, the rest the crew was waiting by the cars. We both dressed properly for this, I was wearing the John Phillips Koko had bought for me and she was in her all white Christian Dior. I brought the flowers but she brought something that would have really made him laugh, a bottle of his favorite brandy.

"Same for you."

I went first kneeling down placing them gently on the tombstone.

" _Renato Socci: Friend, Brother, Comrade."_

"Thank you for everything. Goodbye…brother."

As I stood up to let Koko go next I heard Tojo.

"Hey Koko, someone wants to see you."

I saw Mao patting down an older man in a grey suit. He wore glasses, had square jaw, greying hair, and was somewhat stocky. His voice though was not like some office drone, he spoke as if he was a man of wisdom.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person Koko Hekmatyar. I hope that you can understand me not bringing flowers for him. In my line of work, you can't get emotional."

I didn't need to guess that this was R's boss. Instinctively I got behind Koko, ready for anything.

"George Black, I take it you're here alone and unarmed I hope?"

"I'm unarmed, I didn't come here for a shootout. Call me Bookman, or any of my other nicknames. But only R got to call me Saw."

"Bookman then. I appreciate the help you gave us back in Budapest."

"Don't mention it, but you can skip the false gratitude. I'm very impressed you could find such a place, it's beautiful." He then glanced over to his grave. "R, rest in peace."

He then glanced over to me, but he looked at me rather normally rather than as the man who went AWOL in the worst possible way and was still an enemy of the United States.

"Damien, your father is doing just fine. But I suggest you stay off the radar for a while."

He said that rather casually and then began to leave.

"The best SAD officers make themselves impossible to find. Continue on with your work but I'd advise you to be wary of Hex's shadow."

Several days had gone by and he still didn't know she was dead. No surprise that the CIA doesn't like to follow through. Koko and I looked at each other sharing a quick smirk and then gave Bookman the answer he wanted to hear.

"Appreciate it, I'll be careful."

"I think it's time I get back home." He then stopped to turn around. "One more question if it's not too much trouble. How many rockets have you launched?"

"What? No idea."

She said most definitely not wanting to answer that. But Bookman took the hint and walked away from the rest of us. Koko then went to R's grave to finish up paying her respects.

"So that's your pal Bookman. Real stick in the mud. But I bet you had way more fun with me, especially the drinking parties."

As she kissed the bottle, I then saw a tear run down her cheek. The final goodbyes are most assuredly the hardest. She placed it on top of the flowers.

"Thank you, and goodbye…Renato."

 **2000 Hours**

 **Naples, Italy**

The drive back to Naples to catch his flight home was a quiet one. He had just lost his right arm and his left had vanished. All he could do was pray that his operation could continue on. But he would now have to modify his plan since he no longer had any type of direct contact with Koko Hekmatyar. While pondering what to do next, his phone rang, the voice on the other end of it was panicking somewhat.

" _Chief Black it's Narville! You alone? You need to listen to this!"_

"Calm down, what's wrong?"

" _One of our SAD agent's just turned up dead in Austria and another disappeared, witnesses say that a large, muscular, young man with a long ponytail shot Greg Rickman in the head and dragged his wounded partner off and vanished."_

Bookman was not the type to be shocked so easily but the description matched Damien, and Rickman was one of Hex's men.

"Were there any other agent's with him at the time? I know who's squad he belongs to."

" _Yes. As a matter of fact one of our safehouses in Austria was breached. A backup unit was sent to investigate a fire that started in the safehouse after its GPS beacon went offline. We found a body inside the safehouse, DNA analysis confirms the body of Agent Linda Schaeffer. But the fire didn't kill her, she was executed. Shot in the head."_

Bookman then pulled off to the side of the road to collect his thoughts. He got out and leaned on the door.

"Understood. I'm flying back to Dulles tomorrow morning. I'll see you all then."

That was Hex's real name, Koko had already gotten her revenge and so quickly too. Bookman knew that the amount of power she was accumulating was growing exponentially. But he needed to find out how, and how he could pull her into his fray. But now he had to up his game, she had to be the most dangerous person he'd ever faced in his time as a spy.

"I've now lost both my arms. My God Hekmatyar really is a monster and from all I've learned about her she doesn't walk away from anything. R, you may have been right about her seeing something in Andrushko. He's just as much a monster as she is. He's also the physical manifestation of her power. But it's not over yet."

Giving into his nostalgic feelings of a Marine that never quits he grinned hard and started doing a slow version of The Monkey.

"I'll have the little lady dancing to my tune until she's gasping for breath!"

After his little boost of energy to get himself refocused he then spoke what he was thinking. Probably to answer both Hex and R.

"I always planned to join the US Military, I also knew one day I'd have to get my hands dirty. But my dreams of being a Marine crashed and burned after the back injury I got right out of the Naval Academy. I'm beginning to see the methods I use in my current post aren't all that different. God listen to me rationalizing shit."


	33. Chapter 32

**Author's Note: Alright! We're back online! Sorry for the long wait so as a special gift I'll upload two chapters. And I also managed to save all of my things so nothing was lost and I won't have to start from scratch again, thank God. Once again thanks for all the follow's and favorites.**

 **Chapter 32: A Wild Night Out**

 **October 4** **th** **2010 1100 Hours**

 **The Pentagon, Washington DC**

Marcus Andrushko was now beginning to spend more time at work than was necessary. As far as regular military operations were progressing, they were in normal swing with the relative quietness of the last few weeks. Within the shadows of black ops and intelligence, they were a raging storm. Something crazy was happening in Europe. Not more than a few weeks prior was a shootout and a high speed chase in France involving a highly wanted French hitman. And just last week a whole SAD team ends up dead in Hungary after starting a massive fire fight in the capital. Someone was causing US special operations a major headache in Europe and the CIA was stonewalling on what was really happening. Naturally the concept of "need to know" was something that was argued about for years between the intelligence community and regular military but General Andrushko was now a part of both sides of the spectrum. He along with the rest of SOCOM had an obligation to bring the damage either under control or limited. Admiral Olson was fuming that he didn't find out about the SAD operation till the other day, several days after it had happened. It was an unauthorized move to target a specific individual that the CIA would not name who it was because they were a crucial part of another operation. Andrushko knew right off the bat that whoever this person was, was not on the side of what you would call moral.

Then again the black ops world had always acted within the gray area, Andrushko knew this all too well even from his times when he was still out in the field. You primarily had to get your information on the bad guys from people who were just as bad. The end game for it was only if it benefited you winning. But Marcus remembered an old saying from a senator during the cold war, the ball keeps on bouncing.

"Somebody is seriously going to fuck up the end game, I'm sure of it." He said running his hands across his head while leaning back in his chair.

"Are you referring to the CIA or whoever has been causing theses flare ups sir?"

Colonel Raiser was fairing no better with the amount of work that had been tasked down to him and the rest of Andrushko's subordinates. While the alphabet agencies had more freedom of movement to exercise their activities they didn't necessarily have to follow all the rules that regular army forces did. It was the envious view of a lot of military types, they would get away with practically anything. It had also grown within the last few years since the war began on 9/11, making a very familiar resemblance to Vietnam. The US military knew what they had to do to take down the enemy but the politics of Washington kept them on a leash and allowed humiliations to occur, morale to drop, money be wasted, and casualties climb. It was the feeling that a lot of soldiers both enlisted and officers shared, they just couldn't say it cause it would lead to something worse.

"I'm willing to bet both Aaron."

"Well whoever it is obviously isn't too keen on making things subtle. Christ, half a platoon size force of Special Activities Division agents sent to take out two people who were alone? I can't really wrap my head around that."

The General then went through the windows on his computer going over the unofficial reports that were passed along to him from one of his more trusted contacts in the CIA. He kept one window open though, a long forgotten face of a trainee and a program he saw potential in breaking the norms of military life but was cast aside. He wasn't however surprised that she ended up the way she did, or who she picked up to be a part of her team. Cutthroat seemed to be appropriate as most of these guys were booted out for wrongful deaths, torture, extorting civilians, even stealing cash from insurgent raids. Then again Andrushko was shocked to find the backgrounds and skill sets of each of them, she had picked the best but also the worst.

"That's not even the scary part, they all ended up getting killed and their targets got away clean. Even if it was an act by a rouge agent, who the hell was the CIA tracking?"

"It's not like the Middle East is the source for all terrorists sir. It's someone we've never encountered before, only problem though is that we don't know who they're affiliated with."

A knock then came on the General's door. His Air Force liaison, Captain Calvin Shumaker, was standing there with coffee in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.

"Yes what is it?"

"This came to you from General Casey sir. Says it's urgent." He said handing him both the coffee and form.

"Usually is." He said knowing it wasn't.

"Actually sir this is kind of a big deal. I was talking to some of my friends in AFSCN and they gave me some specific details. Some type of revolutionary logistics program that, if I'm interpreting this correctly, will put them all out of a job. Make everything be under civilian control and we're gonna have to go along with it."

Andrushko then looked at him skeptically. "I doubt it would be that easy. When's this program supposed to start?"

"Next year. The company that's in charge of construction and management of the project is HCLI."

Raiser then looked towards Shumaker with interest. He knew of the company's reputation and it was a radical step in a different direction. But this company based its business in war so naturally they would branch out to other things besides weapons.

"The shipping company that also deals in weapons? This could be interesting."

"Well we'll save this for later it's not a bleeder." Andrushko said while setting his coffee on the form. "Right now let's figure out who's been wrecking shit in Europe."

The two subordinates then smiled and went back to work after the General's colorful description of the events that occurred. He then looked back at the screen with the file of Agent Linda "Hex" Schaeffer one last time before he closed it. He encountered a lot different types of people in his life, the army tended to do that. But he never thought that one of the most disturbed ones he ever met was a rather beautiful woman. Beyond that beauty was a ruthlessness unfathomed even by the terrorists that she was hunting. While the General had an obligation with SOCOM to find out who killed one of the CIA's agents and her team, it was needless to say she got what she deserved.

 _In all seriousness, there is someone or a group that's incredibly dangerous out there. They've been hiding in our blind spots, but they've gotten careless. Now we know they're out there. All we need to know is who._

 **October 5** **th** **2010 1300 Hours**

 **Jakarta, Indonesia**

While being charismatic was part of Kasper's persona he also liked to be punctual. The hotel where he was meeting with his client was supposed to be over an hour ago. This had been one of his many deals that he had done quite frequently in Indonesia so he figured this wouldn't have been a problem. But there was a bit of hamper on some of his deals as of recent. Turns out a certain Japanese financial firm was weaseling in on his deals and taking them from him. He had hoped to keep this quiet from his men but he was running out of excuses. If this one went under then he couldn't hide it anymore.

As he was flipping through a magazine Chiquita sat next to him finishing her tea, every now and then glancing to the three other members of her team who had taken up their over watch positons. She knew that he was hiding the low sales rates from them but they already knew about it. Kasper was terrible at hiding secrets, especially when it involved work.

"They're late." She said staring at Kasper with the lazy smile that never left her.

"Yes they are." Kasper said uninterested.

Chiquita then looked out the window, dark clouds were starting to form. Heavy rains were frequent in this part of the country so she hoped that Kasper got an answer soon. Luckily it did, as a bellhop had approached them both.

"Kasper Hekmatyar, I have a message for you."

"What is it?"

All four bodyguards then honed in on Kasper as the bellhop whispered in his ear. They could all tell by the look on his face that the deal had gone bust. As the bellhop left, he signaled to his crew and they left the hotel. The moment they stepped outside the lobby though, thunder began to rumble from the sky and it was becoming increasingly dark.

"The weather like our negotiation is a wash."

Allan then spoke up. "Eh, not too bad boss."

"You think so?" He humored him knowing Allan had bad taste in comedy.

"It was alright." Chiquita said as she was patting his shoulder. Of course she was lying through her teeth as his pun was a bit lame.

"Really? I thought that grin was for me." The rain then started to come down hard. "We'll drown before we get to the car. Let's head back inside and grab some lunch, it's on me!"

"Hell yeah!" The trio of Edger, Allan, and Poe sounded off as one.

After heading back inside they headed toward the restaurant and Kasper let his crew pick their choice of meal first and then he'd go after they got theirs. It looked like the storm was becoming worse. Thunder clashes rumbled outside and the heavy rain was patting on the windows fiercely. Chiquita, knowing Kasper's eating habits, always chose the greasiest or sweetest things on the menu. She often wondered how he stayed so trim despite eating nothing but constant junk. When the crew's dishes came out he then ordered his.

"I'll have both these burgers and the shaved ice with every flavor on it."

As the waitress then left for his order he noticed Chiquita looking at him as if he was a complete idiot.

"Your heart is going to explode one day from eating all that crap Kasper."

"As much as I appreciate the motherly advice Chiquita I can order whatever the hell I want."

As everyone else dug in to their dishes Edger said his prayers before he did. He was a practicing Catholic and took each meal seriously because he told Kasper once that due to the nature of his work, each day could be his last if he wasn't careful. This turned out to be more than true considering the news he heard from Koko last week. He just didn't tell the rest of his team yet.

"By the way, not to bring the table down but I talked to my sister last week. One of her guys, R, was killed apparently by taking on a whole group of SAD. With a little help from Koko's newest member."

As expected the mood around the table became rather humble. R had a reputation like the rest of them and it was well respected. It had climbed even higher with them knowing he died protecting their boss's younger sister. While not alcohol a toast was needed, Chiquita raised her soda up first.

"To R."

"To R!" The trio saluted as one.

As they then returned to their meals the waitress then came over with Kasper's. He said that Damien fought with him, she wanted to know.

"You said my _mishka_ was with him, is he ok?"

"He's alright, he hates me more than anyone else I know. He won't die without wanting to sock me out again."

Poe then looked at her confused. He didn't know that was Chiquita's pet name for Damien.

"Who the hell's mishka?"

"Come on man you don't remember that huge kid with the long hair that tore up a whole Burmese Army base?" Allan answered for him and Edger followed up.

"Oh yeah and you threw him into a shipping container didn't you boss?"

Chiquita then looked over to her boss with her usual smile but with an annoyed tone.

"And when you decided to show up to your sisters ship unannounced I had to pull him off of you after he punched you and split my head open."

"Did you have to bring that up Chiquita? Anyway let's talk something else, Tojo's doing ok."

She knew right off the bat that he had let it slip by mentioning one of his old employees, so she figured to slide right into it rather than let him ease it in. She liked the idea of getting paid for not working but when your boss's business is in a bit of a slump you had to take the initiative to get him back on his feet and start taking his own job seriously again.

"Speaking of that our sales are down quite a bit."

He then started to hack on his shaved ice, she caught him totally off guard.

"Jeez Chiquita blunt much?"

Knowing he couldn't hide it anymore his men wanted to know why their sales were dropping so fast.

"So does this have something to do…" Edger.

"With the last minute cancellation…" Allan.

"Involving a certain Japanese business firm?" Poe.

"And as you can plainly see. I'm not the only one thinking about this."

Kasper was then chewing on his spoon, pondering. Somebody didn't want HCLI in Indonesia or South East Asia at all. His customers were starting to dry up and Kasper needed to grab the invisible hand that was diverting his deals.

"Whoever they are they see us as a threat. They know were growing in power out here and they don't seem to like it. While they cast a shadow, we can't see them. I also contacted HQ and they weren't able to turn up anything. Specifically there's no type of Japanese firm that would exist out here in order to do that. None that exists officially though."

At once Kasper's bodyguards then began to share the same thought. Different nation, same type of soldier, a special forces type to be specific.

"So what are we gonna do?" Chiquita asked.

"I already set this in motion. I called Koko the other day and asked her to meet us in Japan. They should be arriving tomorrow, we'll meet up with them once were done out here."

 **October 6** **th** **2010 0745 Hours**

 **Flight 478 to Tokyo, First Class Cabin, 4 Hours till Landing**

I woke up to several things at once this morning. The first was the smell of coffee being brewed, that meant that in flight breakfast wasn't too far off. I hoped that it would be more filling than the noodles they served for dinner last night. Japanese cooking was a great art in of itself but not hearty enough to fill my stomach. Second was the sounds of buttons being mashed. Looks like Mike was still playing his Xbox on his portable playing station all night. Lastly was the warm feeling of two soft but powerful legs I was using to rest my head on for sleeping the whole night. Nuff said for me but Lehm however started to talk shit because quite frankly he was the only one who could afford to. My eyes were still shut though, I figure I'd start waking up whenever I smelled food or deemed it appropriate.

"God he seems almost happy, what did you really do to calm him down knowing who we're meeting with?" He said in his usual bored but this time somewhat smartass self.

"I told him the truth, nothing more." Koko said sleepily, probably waking up herself.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Koko? I mean we've already had two freak outs with him. What makes you think he'll behave this time?" Sophia said concerned and fully awake.

"He will."

I then felt fingers brush a portion of my still uncut hair out of my face. Koko was sitting next to her. I had to have a calm head anyway, I said I wasn't gonna turn back into my former very violent prone self.

"He told me that he convinced himself that he wanted to see Kasper. To make sure that he held up his end of the deal they both made."

I didn't say that immediately, I had to take a few moments to collect my thoughts and it wasn't just because I hated her brothers guts. After the mess in Europe I'd figure we'd at least stay off the radar for work just a little bit longer. But if she said it was safe then who was I to argue. But the one thing I needed to find out was how all those kids were doing. I hadn't seen Maurice, Aung, and Elizabeth in months and they better be in good health.

"And if he decides to screw me over I'll just knock his teeth so far down his throat he'll have to shove toothbrush up his ass in order to brush." I said opening my eyes.

"Well good morning to you too Damien."

"Hey."

"As lazy as he acts sometimes, my brother always upholds his deals. He and I never cut corners or short change our customers. That's bad for business. But anyway in your travel's have you ever been to Japan? If not tell me what that brain of yours knows." She said poking my head.

I then breathed deep while rubbing my eyes. Asian cultures were just as ancient as Babylon, there was so much to study from it. But I'd keep it simple for now until we got there cause I was still half asleep. Feudal Japan of course was the foundation for a lot of Japanese cultural references but they didn't start truly making an influence in the world until the Perry Expedition that ended their 200 year period of isolation from the world. Most of my knowledge as far as Japan went I had to ask which one you wanted to know about. Super cool Playstation and technological comfort Japan or super uncool Pearl Harbor Japan. All too often I tended to slide into the dark parts of a lot of history. But I would be nothing but a bigoted fool if I brought up 70 year old shit and thought that that was relevant today. Granted you should always remember it, but my point still stood. Japan was awesome, to me personally because of the numerous amounts of martial arts that were studied and, putting this politely, pushing boundaries on everything.

"Japan has taught me two very important things. One, they've made the greatest sword in the history of warfare and two, they're weird as fuck. Don't believe me look at Tojo, ain't that right Aki baby!?"

"Huh? What?" He was sounding groggy. I must have woken him up.

"Just say yes." Set the trap.

"Uhh yeah?" Caught the rabbit.

The girls and anyone else that was awake began snickering. That was my easiest one yet. But now I wanted to know about Kasper.

"So when will we talk to your brother?"

"It won't be immediately. We've got a decent amount of free time before we meet up with him so were gonna have some fun."

That was something I was glad to hear. With no more Hex hounding us and the CIA figuring to ease up on us a bit I could have a day or two to relax and take in the sights without having to worry about blowing shit up or shooting people.

"Sounds good to me, and you know what, let's not do the tourist thing the moment we land. Let's see what the nightlife scene is like, I'm itching to dance and I haven't done it in forever."

"YOU go clubbing?" Sophia said probably thinking I was always the stoic serious type.

"Just because I graduated earlier than everybody else at West Point didn't mean I followed all the rules and adhered to all the standards."

You can only be young once so you had to live it. Even though I was seen as a bit of an outcast from my fellow cadets for being so far ahead of them in grades, that didn't mean I was a shut in. One would assume I was a brooding, violent, antisocial, hard ass but I liked to be a mischievous party boy when I could.

During some of my spring and summer breaks in high school I had actually made friends with a few guys that went to Berkeley and Long Island University, which weren't terribly far from West Point. I came up with a bit of a simple plan, every now and then on the weekends or specific holidays I would sneak out of the dorms and my friends would be waiting to pick me up at a specific time and location via email. I'd change clothes in the car, we'd drive to New York City, and party our asses off at one of the clubs. Some of what is said about West Point about its strict discipline, training, academics, and even making sure the students don't really have a choice in leaving whenever they want was true. But there's a difference between what is shown and what really is, there were always gaps in the armor, I just exploited them a little better than most. That didn't mean that there weren't some close calls when sometimes we got back almost a little too late, was still slightly inebriated and sometimes I had the smell of a girls perfume on me.

But they were the only times I ever truly had fun there. As much as some of the faculty praised me, I just took the classes and answered the questions right. I didn't really care what my grades were and I hated that I was constantly barraged with being told that I had to join some type of extracurricular club. Sometimes I got scolded for acting a little too superior to others and of course my very dark humor came in when it wasn't appropriate but I made up for it with my knowledge and sometimes presence. It was during that time that some recruiters for Special Forces came to the school and approached me. They told me I was wasting my time here and they could get me out of there and on to active duty quicker. I accepted, and the rest is history.

But nostalgia was a wonderful thing sometimes and I think it would be awesome to see the looks on everyone's faces when I now finally had the chance to truly cut loose and party again.

"I think that's a wonderful idea! Let's hit up a karaoke bar first before we all head out to dance!" Koko said jumping on board eagerly.

"Then it's a plan." I said as I rearranged myself to be more comfortable.

But then I felt a heavy tug on my hair as I shut my eyes.

"Since you're awake you can get off of me now. My legs are totally asleep."

I then stared blankly at, well, most of her face from where I was at.

"Yeah that's one thing I can do."

She then formed what I could make out was a scowl and then grabbed my hair lifting my head up so she could stand up.

"You are such an ass."

"You know you love it."

As she darted off I heard some type of soft mumble. I didn't decide to ask what she said cause I think I could have made it out. I then sat up but I felt a portion of my hair catch on the seat belt, it was starting to get a little too long.

 _Yeah I better shorten this thing a bit, it's getting too long._

 **2000 Hours**

 **Jakarta, Indonesia**

Another storm front had come in later in the afternoon and the rain hadn't let up. Kasper figured that this would be the best way to shake things up with the ghosts that were muscling in on his territory and deals. And if would be the perfect opportunity to get back at one of his former customers for screwing him over. He never showed it but behind that charisma and charm was a ruthlessness that made people think twice about double crossing him or backing out of deals after money has been exchanged. It was the punishment his bodyguards would give Colonel Nualkhair's own son. By doing this he would hopefully flush out the ghosts and his sister Koko would get them in their sights and exorcise them.

Kasper followed his team but parked a few streets away and waited for their call. The van his bodyguards/attack squad pulled up a safe distance from the Colonel's summer villa. The team then began donning their all black BDU's and loaded up their carrying vests, finishing off by putting suppressors on their Sig Sauer's. Chiquita then showed a picture of his son, Korwit, to the rest of the team and began the brief.

"This is the Nualkair's son Korwit, we'll use the cover of the storm to move in quickly and cut the power to the house. Simple objective, execute on sight."

As a last minute psychological shock factor, the team put on balaclava's that had the lower half a skull with fangs. The team then headed out into the storm.

After hopping over the villa wall Allan was the first to see the rather brightly lit living room where two men were drinking and smoking like nobody's business. Using hand signals he motioned to the rest of the crew that the targets were in sight. Chiquita then got their attention and pointed to her watch, two minutes. That was the time they all needed to get into position in order to breach. Edgar and Allan boosted Chiquita up to the patio roof and she made for one of the windows on the second floor. The others would take the first and Poe was the one who had the cutters and made for electricity meter to give the signal to go. Checking his watch he counted down.

 _Four, three, two, one. Here we go._

Chiquita saw the lights go out and made quick work of prying the window open with her knife. She made her way to one of the bedrooms that she heard a shower running from it. Knowing to catch them by surprise so that they couldn't fight back she opened the door instead of kicking it in. Her first victim was a naked woman in the bed, probably a hooker that Korwit had bought for his men. Knowing they couldn't have witnesses, she dispatched her first before she could even scream. Then using the sound of the shower as cover, she then eliminated the man in the shower. But upon closer inspection it wasn't Korwit, he had to be downstairs. As she then silently made her way to the first floor she heard drunk shouting in Indonesian, probably trying to figure out why the lights were out. She then heard two suppressed shots, one of the team got another. But then she heard another voice, questioning the status of his dead friend. She then heard footsteps and silently stood in the stairway, the target walked passed her.

"The guest of honor I assume?"

He turned around shocked but wasn't able to process what the hell had happened in time as the skull faced figure in the dark fired a single round into his head. She then signaled for her team.

"Clear!"

"Clear!" Allan shouted.

Edgar then made for the door leading outside. "We're clear man get in here and dry off."

"Shit! Took you long enough!" He said wringing out his drenched shirt.

"Alright, enough messing around lets finish up."

Edgar then took out a sizable amount of Euros and placed it next to Korwit's corpse and the rest then began to slightly vandalize the house. The local police would see this as a burglary gone bad but Kasper wanted to let the ghosts know that this was a declaration of war. Chiquita then got on her phone to Kasper.

"Hey boss it's done."

" _Good. I'll make a call to her and we'll get this underway."_

 **2215 Hours**

 **Tokyo, Japan, Lovenet Karaoke Bar**

This had to be one of the most surreal and frankly awesome bar's I'd ever been to in my life. The nightclubs around New York were of their own charm but sometimes they got a little repetitive. We weren't really sparing any expense when we got this one lounge rented out for us with bright aqua blue lighted walls and white leather furniture that matched the floor. But after a little bit of a closer inspection on the walls, we were actually surrounded by a huge aquarium with dozens of different saltwater types of fish. After a few taps on the glass I noticed that it was pretty thick, probably meant to not freak the fish out from the constant loud music being played all the time.

It was of the slightly younger and immature crowd that was out tonight. Lehm, Wiley, Mao, and Tojo decided to opt out and go do the boring local stuff by getting some local grub and bounce around the watering holes. The rest of us were here sampling almost every different sake on the menu having a blast. While doing our best to make sure Koko didn't drink too much or we'd suffer from her drunken lunacy. We most assuredly gave off the vibe to the bar owners that we were tourists but at least we took the time to dress in the appropriate style that we had for a night on the town. Lutz put some extra gel in his hair to keep his spikes sharp and was in a tight dark grey open two piece with a bright purple shirt. While nice, he really came off as shady, almost as if he was gonna sell coke. Ugo had gotten a rather ornately designed green, white, and silver t-shirt that wrapped around his huge form that kinda made me feel inadequate. He was also the most decked out of all of us with a big gold chain, watch and pinky ring. I kept it classy and wore my favorite black silk shirt and khaki Armani's, properly sized so that I wouldn't tear the seams. The girls however wore something that seemed a bit too plain, buttoned up collared shirts and jeans. Only difference, except for the one where one was more endowed than the other, was that Koko wore white short sleeves and Sophia wore black long sleeve. Both of them were enjoying the sight of me, Mike, and Karl making somewhat asses of ourselves with our amateur singing skills. Karl's rather bad solo of the Beatles was finishing up.

 _He roller coaster_

 _He got early warning_

 _He got muddy water_

 _He one mojo filter_

 _He say one and one and one is three_

 _Got to be good looking cause he's so hard to see_

 _Come together!_

 _Right now!_

 _Over me_

The song finished and the computer was tallying up his score, it was based on getting the words and rhythm of notes right. But I wish it would have given him negatives for his awful stage hogging performance. But the computer did what I wanted it to do by giving him a bad score of 67.

"What the hell!? This things fixed!" He complained.

"You're supposed to match the song, not do your own version. I'm still in the lead! No one tops the Chairman of the Board!"

Ugo had gone first by doing Frank Sinatra's classic of "New York, New York" and was in the lead. I was gonna go next after browsing through some of the newer stuff, they were a bit more of a challenge and I didn't want to listen to the classics all night. We needed to get the blood flowing so way before we went out tonight I looked up some different rock bands and I found on that, surprisingly, came from Finland. I briefed Sophia about it and she actually liked the beat they had. We then both memorized a few songs before we came here. I found one of them on the list, but before I could click anything Koko's phone rang.

"Hold up Damien, I have to take this. Hello?"

" _Hey Koko it's Kasper! I wanted to let you know that the operation is underway."_

I was sitting next to her and the moment I heard his voice it really killed my mood.

" _How's Japan so far? It's raining cats and dogs down here."_

"Were actually in the middle of karaoke right now, let's just say if Lutz ever makes it into the music business he won't get very far." She said busting his chops.

" _Ha! Ha! Well if you guys are having fun I won't interrupt. I'll see you in a few days."_

"Caio." She hung up and then looked to me. "Ok Damien, your turn. What'll it be?"

I leaned forward to catch Sophia's attention, and handed her a microphone.

"Duet. You ready?"

"Oh yeah." She knew it was time.

I'm a huge fan of metal but I never really rock out in front of anyone unless I had something to keep me occupied at the same time. But I had a little bit more alcohol in my system so I was a little more enthusiastic than usual, so when we got up I immediately undid my ponytail. My now somewhat trimmed long hair free to head bang properly.

"Click on number 36 Koko."

The screen then put on a countdown, the song was going to play almost instantly. Two singers made up this song, so Sophia had to go first. She went whenever the violins began with a single drum beat in the mix, with a rather operatic like vocal.

 _I wish I had an angel_

 _For one moment of love_

 _I wish I had your angel tonight!_

The guitar's then kicked in and so did the inner metal head my mother had conditioned me to. Slight bend at the knees, your fists curled up next to them, bow ever so slightly and whiplash the head as hard as you could. My hair whipping about like a wild animal. The lights pulsating around the room matching the beat of the song.

 _Deep into a dying day_

 _I took a step outside an innocent heart_

 _Prepare to hate me fall when I may_

 _This night will hurt you like never before_

 _Old loves they die hard_

 _Old lies they die harder_

My turn. My deep voice managed to copy the tone of the original singer but it contained my own youthfulness that made it come out smoother.

 _I wish I had an angel_

 _For one moment of love_

 _I wish I had your angel_

 _Your Virgin Mary undone_

 _I'm in love with my lust_

 _Burning angel wings to dust_

 _I wish I had your angel tonight!_

All the while I was looking at Sophia, she was grinning ear to ear with how silly I was acting. Karl and Mike were actually cheering us on, their heads and even Koko's were bopping to the tune. Next came where we kinda unintentionally unleashed our war faces. I could only assume Sophia was doing the same thing as I was tightening the muscles in my neck and arms.

 _Greatest thrill!_

 _Not to kill!_

 _But to have the prize of the night!_

 _Hypocrite!_

 _Wannabe friend!_

 _Thirteenth disciple!_

 _Who betrayed me for nothing!/Last dance, first kiss_

 _Your touch my bliss_

 _Beauty always comes with dark thoughts_

As she was singing that and moving our bodies to the music I caught a brief glimpse of Koko, that look of envy was coming back again. She still wanted to be more than friends with me. It was kind of a heat of the moment but I couldn't think of anything else for her to listen to me when we were caught in that shootout. I'd tell Sophia later and accept my punishment as a man but for right now I needed her, and she was kinda like what I was singing. But I didn't need her to climb that high in order to be perfect.

 _I wish I had an angel_

 _I wish I had an angel!_

 _I WISH I HAD AN ANGEL!_

 _I WISH I HAD AN ANGEEEEEEL!_

After the slight applause from our tiny audience we both turned around to the score that was being tallied by the computer. With the amount of alcohol I still had in my system I got a little too excited when Sophia and I got a total of 97.

"HA! Hell fuckin yeah!" I said lifting her up in a bear hug.

In my somewhat inebriated cry of victory I was lifting her up to where her voluptuous chest was in my face. I turned around and Ugo and Lutz's faces were burning a scowl right through my head. It wasn't my fault I managed to get and receive what they could only dream about.

"We got the better score, you lose. So that means you two gotta buy the drinks for the rest of us when we go to dance. Those are the rules."

"You just made that shit up! We never agreed to that!" Ugo protested.

"It don't matter, you're our _designated_ driver. You can't get drunk anyway. Come on Koko I don't wanna lose the high let's go dancing now!"

She laughed hard. "Alright Damien we'll go. But you might want to put her down, or else the one thing you will lose before the night ends is consciousness."

It took a few seconds but I finally registered that her boobs were still touching the side of my face. I then looked at her and she had what you would call the "smiling murder face" and I think I could read her thoughts.

 _Put me down before I kick your ass._

 **October 7** **th** **2010 0014 Hours**

 **Club Eden, VIP Lounge**

Bright lights, music blaring, the building shaking from the bass, endless alcohol, and the short skirts. It was as if I just traveled back in time to more pleasant memories. From our private booth I was overlooking a crowd of people packed together jumping around like crazy from the fast electronic beat. I then took a big swig of my scotch and squinted my eyes as I accidentally looked into the numerous amounts of flashing lights that illuminated the club. The Japanese to many may come off as prim and proper but I can attest that they love to drink, howl, and party like crazy.

I had just gotten off the dance floor after three songs and I was out of breath so I took a quick breather in our section. The crowd didn't seem to think in their eyes a stereotypical giant American could dance. But after modifying some of my martial arts moves in Silat and Mui Thai I took the center of the dance circle rather easily. The crowd and the staff then started to take more of a liking to us as opposed to earlier. The doorman thought Ugo and I were the body guards for Lutz and Sophia and Koko were his dates. He dressed like a movie star but his performance in swooning over some of the more flirtatious Japanese girls in the place was, and being generous, mediocre. Ugo however provided to be more lucky in that by coming off as a bit of a big shy teddy bear. He definitely couldn't dance like I could so he used his Italian pleasantries and some red wine to socialize with some of the older crowd. Normally most Japanese are not too tolerant of foreigners but if you can find a common ground and show generosity, or in this case alcohol tolerance, sky's the limit. But I also forgot someone who had kind of a low limit to alcohol and I wasn't paying too much attention to that cause all of us were having fun. She caught me by surprise causing me to spill my scotch.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU COULD DANCE LIKE THAT. SO MANY SECRETS ABOUT YOU DAMIEN."

 _Oh crap not again._

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SHOW ME THOSE MOVES LAST WEEK? OR BETTER YET SOMETHING MORE INTIMATE?"

She then started to feel her hand up from my abs to my chest, looking at me a bit amorously. I should have paid more attention to her drinking but I had myself to blame for that. Hopefully I could just get her to relax in the lounge and she'd stay there, then I'd stay away from her for the rest of the night. But it better be sooner rather than late, I was losing the fight, badly.

"Look Koko I-"

"SHUT UP. I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT."

She then jumped up on me grabbing me around the neck and putting me off balance. She then started breathing heavily in my ear.

Screwed was an understatement. I couldn't let this go any further. I then started to try and pull her off of me but she was being more stubborn than usual.

"Damn it Koko I get it! But I did that cause I needed you to listen to me! I'll admit that yes I find you attractive but I already told you the reason why I can't. Plus if Sophia finds out I-"

"Finds out what Damien?"

Upon hearing a very authoritive tone even with the loud music beating I braced for the inevitable and turned in the direction of it. Sophia was standing there with her arms crossed, wanting an explanation.

 _Fuck._

She then closed the distance and looked at me in a form of anger I only saw when we first met and I was getting settled in with the team. I also smelled vodka on her, meaning this was gonna get nasty.

"Look Sophia I didn't do anything! I was just standing here and-"

"You just decided to take advantage of Koko while she's drunk?" She said not breaking posture, like she was disciplining a junior officer.

"Now hold on." Koko spoke up with her hand raised and not sounding intoxicated. "Who said I was drunk?"

"What!? You were just dicking with me!?" I said as she let go of me.

"I was just playing with you Damien, we're out on the town, we're supposed to be having fun." She then turned to Sophia, just as flabbergasted. "He's all yours, take a breather, I'm gonna get some champagne and all five of us will make one last toast for the night."

She then left back downstairs and left me and Sophia looking at each other awkwardly. I went first.

"Lehm did say she's special so does she do that kind of stuff out of habit or is it a gift?"

She looked away for a second to think. "I think it's depends on whichever day ends in a "Y"."

I motioned to her and we both then sat in the lounge. It was one of several on the second floor that overlooked the club. With the slightly illuminated green walls I then remembered of a club in the Bronx that was similar to this one except freedom of movement around the place wasn't as strict. The downside though was that more often than not most of the alcohol was the same. Unlike here they had a very diverse amount and that's when I found a familiar name of brandy that I wanted to try. I wanted to have that bottle last but I couldn't wait anymore. I poured us both glass, toasted and took a sip.

"Hmm. Not bad, what's this one?"

"Branca, it was _his_ favorite brandy." I said holding the glass up and swirling it around.

She knew who I meant as she looked at the clear amber colored liquid.

"I'm gonna miss him."

"Me too." I then leaned back on the sofa. "Hey, question, if it's not too much trouble, why did you punch him out that day on the beach in Italy?"

She then let out a slight laugh. But then she had that vicious look in her eye. "He tried to feel me up."

I paused while taking another sip of brandy, no doubt a very bold move, totally opposite of what I thought he did. Knowing now he kinda deserved it. But I had to give him props for having the balls to do what he did and escape with both of them attached.

"Well I'll say this, brave son of a bitch. Plus he was first to know before me that they were fake for sure."

Suddenly she spat out the brandy and dropped the glass, then looked at me as if she didn't believe what I just said.

I then realized that I had had a lot so far tonight, once again I decided to speak before I thought. At least this time I could blame it on the booze.

"Excuse me? What the hell makes you think I have implants!?"

 _Ok. Just take it easy. Explain it to her in a way that will come off as letting her know she's perfect the way she is._

"Calm down you don't need to be ashamed about it. So you got some surgery, big deal. I don't care about that. And I'm stating the obvious they're very noticeable. And you can't really deny the fact that more often than not you've gotten more that your fair share of glances from men, probably women too."

"For arguments sake, yes you're right. But you still didn't answer my question, what makes you think they're fake?"

"I just said it's obvious, you should know that when you build muscle you lose fat. What do women's breasts contain? And the most obvious fact since you're being so demanding, they tend to defy gravity!"

She continued to look at me like I offended her in the worst possible way, but I had played my hand with fact and truth. All that mattered now was how she played hers. And if worst comes to worst, I'd run my ass off.

She then stood up, walked in front of me, continuing to look at me with a predatory intent. But then she unbuttoned the first button on her shirt, showing a little bit of cleavage. She then straddled me on the couch, leaning forward putting both hands on the wall behind me, all the while not losing the predator look. I think this was the time I pushed it a little too far, so I didn't know what to expect.

"Do you really think that?" She asked kinda sadly.

"Uhh…" Brain stopped again.

"You think I want that kind of attention? God men are all the same. You don't know what it's like to develop much earlier than other girls nor grow to the size you didn't expect. Not to mention back problems, finding clothes that fit, or the awkward stares from prepubescent boys."

This kinda came out of left field. But she was saying that as if it were matter of fact.

"Hold up are you saying…"

"Kylla sina idiootit he ovat todellisa!" She shouted at me in vodka scented Finnish and very frustrated.

"Translation?"

She grunted.

"Yes you idiot they're real!"

As she shouted that in my face the stench of vodka on her breath kinda took me out of place for the moment with both realizing a rather insane fact and I was looking down her shirt at the same time. But then I looked back up to her, the predator look was gone, replaced with lust. Her hands wrapped around my head and I placed mine on her waist.

"Well are you going to say anything?" She asked.

Before I could answer though I heard the sound of a lot of glass breaking. It came from outside our booth, amazed that we both hear it from over the music we both heard shouting from outside. One was in Japanese, but the other was Koko's. We both got off of each other and went to investigate the noise. I saw her with a spilled bottle of champagne on the floor with several broken glasses, and some flamboyantly dressed Japanese pretty boy with a bunch of girls at his back, probably a bunch of paid escorts or floozies. I could make out from his very basic concept of English that he didn't like the fact that Koko had shot him down. I didn't need the booze in my system to be furious or recognize an absolute douchebag when I see one.

As I was about to step forward and get him to back off I noticed Koko's posture, it was defensive. I didn't think she would have wanted to try those moves out so soon, but it looked like this scrawny, goofy haired, dip shit was about to bite off more than he could chew.

"What are you standing there for!? Lets get him!" Sophia barked at me.

"Hold up, lets see how Koko handles this." I said smiling and holding my hand up not to get in the way.

"Are you fucking stupid!?"

"No. Just confident in her. We were doing a little something special on the side for the last week or so since Budapest."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just wait and see. She's about to wipe the floor with this guy."


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33: The Beat**

 **One Week Earlier**

 **October 1** **st** **2010 0545 Hours**

 **East Sussex County, England, HCLI Training Center**

This was one of those few times I truly put my foot down and didn't budge no matter how badly she yelled at me. Or in this case how badly she whined. But after I told her I would do this because I was doing what was best for her, she started to ease up a bit and accept it. I still couldn't get over the fact that despite all the years she had known Lehm, Wiley, Sophia, and hell even Chiquita she only learned how to shoot and never defend yourself with your bare hands. I already knew that it was our job to keep her safe, but common sense would at least tell you that you had to have SOME form of knowledge in defending yourself. This was actually the first time I ever taught somebody how to fight. Naturally I couldn't make her a pro and most of the stuff I knew took years to do but I think Krav Maga would work the best for her. It was straight and to the point, and fairly easy to learn unlike Silat. It would also give her an opportunity for us to come immediately to her aid if someone got too close. I wasn't gonna take another risk of that happening ever again, Koko was gonna learn how to make sure that the next would be assassin tries to take her out gets a nasty surprise.

Of course that only worked if she had the strength and endurance to do that. Fighting is like any other form of training, you had to be fit to do it or else your opponent would simply overpower you. I wasn't gonna turn her into the next Ms. Olympia but I had to get her at least past zero. Despite on how hard she works her brain and being a good shot I learned long ago that you can't have both extreme positives and negatives for on how you build yourself up. Army life taught me this well, you had to be an all-rounder. If you were too great in one thing something else that could be vital would slack. It would also make your intentions predictable and clever opponents can use that to their advantage.

"How are you not out of breath? Or cold for that matter?" Koko said struggling to keep pace with me.

It was a little colder than usual this morning, but then again England doesn't necessarily have what you would call a cool Autumn compared to the States. But the scenery was just like back home, endless amounts of trees with the fall colors of yellow, red, and orange. Running along the dirt road made me feel like I was living back in North Carolina again. Every now and then the commanders of different units did family runs on the holidays, so we ran with each other at a rather slow pace since most of the spouses and kids couldn't really keep up with them.

However I was going incredibly slow as compared to my normal runs because I was the pacer for Koko. I deliberately placed myself in a handicap but if we went any slower I was gonna start walking. We got up early and were supposed to start off with a five mile run and then move on to training. But we were only at a mile and a half and we were at the twenty minute mark. I didn't want to cut this short but I might not have had a choice considering how slow Koko was going. I promised I'd teach her and I would but I'd have to be careful on balancing between being educator and hard ass. She was still my friend and the woman who pulled me out of the dark void. That being said I would never allow her to be weak.

"I don't care about temperatures and you're the one moving slow. Keep it up a bit longer! I don't wanna cut our run short!"

I was keeping ahead of her the entire time but every now and then when I turned around she would try and sprint up to catch me. If I could call it anything, I'd say that the "slinky effect" ruins a person's run time and pace more than anything. I could see her sweating through her track suit like she just came out of the shower. That might have the cue to cut this run short even though I didn't want to. I checked my watch and we were taking up far too much time. Once I saw the sign that pointed in the direction of the range entrance we made that turn and the made for the car. Koko stopped at the car with her hands on her knees and bent over, I hoped to God she didn't throw up.

"Can we…not run…that far next time?" She said panting like a dog.

"Actually we only ran just over two miles we under cut it. And it's way past sunrise so we're out of time." I then opened the trunk and took a bottle of water from the cooler and handed it to her. "Here, sip and don't guzzle."

"Why am I regretting doing this with you?" She said wiping the sweat off her forehead, her hair sticking to it like a mess.

I leaned down and got face to face with her.

"I cannot in good conscience let you continue to conduct your business and rely solely on us to protect you. I'm not just doing this because of what happened in Budapest, I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do. Besides the littlest ones always pack the biggest punch." I said forming my hand into a fist.

The smile then came back. "Does that me I can finally take my frustration out on you?"

I held up my hand. "Let's get you a decent sparring partner first."

 **0700 Hours**

 **Indoor Training Center**

After she changed into some dry clothes and had a chance to breathe we then started off with the basics. Of course though I had to find someone that was at least somewhat her height and size to be her sparring partner, that's were Mao came in. I couldn't really choose anyone else though since all of us were near or over six feet tall and he stood at around five ten. Fighting is a real science when it comes down to it and there's a tremendous distance between sport and combat. Combat was quick, violent, and unfair so you had to exploit all of your enemies weaknesses. But just because you had a few advantages over your opponent didn't mean that you could win automatically, if your opponent was three times your size you're not going to win. But if you were a good and trained fighter then you could hold your ground and Sophia was a perfect example. I would have asked her for help in this but she was always too soft with Koko and she would have yelled at me for being too rough. But hey, getting stronger is never easy.

"Ready to help man?" I asked Mao as he took off his shoes and stepped on to the training mat.

"Hell yeah. I could use some brushing up too, thanks for asking. You sure Koko is up for this?"

"Well it'll put my mind at ease a lot more that she has a little knowledge defending herself."

I then saw Koko eagerly approach the mat, dressed in a new set of gym clothes and hair wrapped up in a messy bun.

"Alright can I finally kick your ass for making me run so early in the morning Damien?" She said cracking her knuckles.

"You needed to build up some stamina and Mao's gonna be your sparring partner but before we start let me tell you the basics."

She pouted but then looked at me with full attention.

"Getting this out of the way first, the only unfair fight is the one that you lose. That doesn't mean that you just straight up walk up to a guy and kick him in the dick, the average fighter always has their guard up. This is how you can get a guy reeling in pain so that you can do the appropriate follow ups to either get back to your weapon or in the case with us allow us to handle the situation from there."

I then looked to Mao and he nodded to begin and we both got into defensive stances. I briefed him earlier to just fall into the moves and would do it slowly and several times so that she could know how to pull them off properly. Naturally this wasn't a test that you had to do every move by the book but as long as she got the general gist of it, that was fine. Violence of action doesn't always mean you do the same thing over and over again. I explained the moves as Mao delivered the first punch.

"In this instance if he were to deliver a straight I take my left arm and push his arm down or to the side to block. Then I take my right hand and push his face back, then you use that opportunity to deliver a straight of your own. Blocks and strikes make up a good portion of Krav Maga but it's not strictly defensive. You can use your opponents own moves against them, by moving out of the way of your opponents punch you stay in close to them and deliver a combination of jabs on their striking side. What this is primarily called is bursting and can work on not just punches and kicks but also knives and guns. We'll do that later in the week but for now let's focus on hand to hand. During your opponents initial phase of going on offense you won't have time to do a proper wind up so use your legs to burst forward, block the strike, and deliver one of your own. Target the vital points or anything that will cause the most pain. If you remember when Sophia grabbed that poor guy at the airport she was holding him by the pressure point behind his jaw. There's multiple ones all over the face, like in between the eyes and nose, the nose itself, the temples and most importantly the throat. I like to target the neck because it doesn't matter how strong you are, one strike to the neck and you're gonna be on the ground. It actually takes more force to crush an empty beer can than a man's windpipe. An experienced opponent though will have their chin down so as not allow their windpipe to be hit and keep an eye out for uppercuts. It won't always be just against one opponent though and more often than not in this past year we've always come across groups of attackers. Key thing there is to never stop moving. When you see an opportunity take it, like a kick to the side of the knee, punch through his defense and land some jabs, if they get too close land an elbow or a knee."

I kept focusing on her while we were doing the mock spar, making sure that she was listening to what I was telling her. Her eyes didn't lose focus on us, so if she wanted to start then she wasn't going to learn anything by just standing there.

"Alright step on the mat and let's get started."

 **October 3** **rd** **2010 0730 Hours**

She was actually learning faster than I had expected as if she was falling into the moves by instinct. Of course though she would have to continue to build up her power and stamina because, not beating around the bush, she had to catch up on matching an average man's physic. But considering the pace that she was learning was exponential, it would be as if she would be compensating strengths and weaknesses. It's the same for all types and theories of fighting styles like speed over strength, offense over defense, or fineness over brute force.

The lesson's for today would be the disarming moves. These are the more dangerous ones that you have to get right on the very first try because if you didn't then you were dead. Since we came across more gunfights than anything else we would practice those techniques last. We would begin the training with rubber practice knives, and implement the ability to either disarm or kill your opponent with his own knife. This time it was Koko's turn to fight off Mao. He held out the fake blade and began to slash.

"Remember to keep you distance and block! It's better to be cut than stabbed!"

Waiting for the opportunity to present itself Koko allowed Mao to lunge forward. She moved to the side while grabbing his arm at the same time. She then kicked out his knee and using the circle technique curled his arm so that his own knife was at his neck. She was actually putting some force into it as well, I could tell because of the look on Mao's face that she was serious. After he got back up he then held the fake blade like a pro and came at her with an overhead strike. Using the block she pushed the knife to the side and grabbed the back of his neck to push him down while she landed a knee just barely making contact with his face.

"I think she has the knife defense pretty nailed down Damien." He said nervously.

She then smiled with confidence and let Mao go. It was only a few days and while I was amazed and how much she adapted she was still a novice. Mastering any form of fighting, even something as simple as boxing, takes months or even years to perfect.

"Be that as it may, the little lady has a while to go. But good job Koko."

"Thank you sensei." She said while bowing comically like in an old kung fu movie.

"Remember though this is just to defend yourself for only a moment to either get back to your gun or have us take over."

"I know, I know, fighting fair is never an option."

Just then her sat phone started to ring. I motioned for her to go and take it, since it had to be business and she never ignored calls from it.

"This is Koko!" She started off with her chipper self but it turned neutral. "Yes what is it? Really, and how is this my problem?"

She then turned and focused on me and then looked back to her phone, the one on the other end taking their time to explain.

"Uh-oh. I know that look, you know there's only two people she uses that tone with." Mao said.

She then shut her eyes and took a deep breath, it looked like someone wanted a favor from her. I prayed it was the other one though.

"Alright fine. Call me later." She then hung up and looked at me.

"Well?" I asked.

"Mao, better go get the car ready cause I think we're done for the morning. I need to talk to Damien in private."

Mao took the hint and left quickly. As I walked off the mat she grabbed our sneakers and handed me my own.

"We're taking a trip to Japan. Kasper needs my help so just listen to what's going on."

 _Oh God why'd it have to be him?_

 **Present Time**

 **October 7** **th** **2010 0040 Hours**

 **Club Eden, Tokyo, Japan**

"Just because you gave her a few lessons doesn't mean she can fight for real! Why didn't you tell me you were doing that with her?"

"Because you would have held back too much. And you should see how she handles herself, you'd be amazed."

I kept a hold on Sophia as she was trying to go to Koko's aid from the weirdo who had ruined our champagne. But I think this would have been a good opportunity to see what she was capable of. Whoever this moron was he was about to get a surprise.

"You with me now!" He said with a poor pronunciation of English and clearly not getting the point.

"And now you've pissed me off. Get lost fuck wad." She said while flipping him the bird.

A clearly angry look came over the guy, he winded up to try and slap her but she saw the move coming a mile away. Putting the practice into proper form she blocked it with her left arm and delivered a jab to his left eye causing him to stumble back into his slut squad in pain. Now even more angry he then moved forward to deliver a swing but Koko caught the swing and then bursted forward and with her other hand pulled his head down into her knee and made several connections with his face. The last strike knocked him off of his feet and he fell on his ass while coving his rather bloody nose. Koko held firm with a serious look on her face and the loser on the floor had no idea what the fuck just happened to him. He stood up and finally got the hint to leave, disappearing into his girls.

"You dead bitch! DEAD!" He said leaving like a clumsy idiot.

Knowing she won, she then turned to return to our lounge. Slightly hesitating when she realized that Sophia and I saw the whole thing but unfazed if we cared or not. I held a smirk that let her know that those lessons and exercise paid off. Sophia had a blank look on her face unable to process the fact that Koko and quite frankly kicked a guy's ass in a rather embarrassing manner.

"I'm assuming that champagne was rather good?" I asked Koko.

"It was and I don't think I'll be pulling out my credit card to get another one that quick."

"Oh well." I then stretched my arms and stumbled a little, it appeared I had too much to drink and I wasn't gonna get any more drunk for the night.

"Since I think that was the highlight of the night you wanna call it quits? Still got two more days till your brother gets here so we should enjoy it."

"I agree, all this dancing has worn me out and it's starting to get a little hard to hear. What do you think Valmet?"

We both looked at her and she still had the same expression on her face, still unable to believe what Koko had did. I then brought her out of her trance by poking her cheek.

"It's getting late. You text Ugo and I'll get Lutz."

"Oh yeah. Right." She said as she pulled out her phone and I led the both of them back down to the dance floor.

As we got to the first floor I immediately spotted Lutz and Ugo closing out the tab. They knew the drill and we started making our way through the crowd of people being sure not to get separated from each other. Everybody was still having fun with the pulsing lights and thumping music of both J-Pop and a few American hip hop beats. The amount of bodies in the club was causing the temperature to rise, I was beginning to sweat through my shirt. Plus since I had a lot to drink tonight I was getting a bit dehydrated. As we passed the bar I put my hand on Lutz's shoulder.

"Hey I'll see you guys at the entrance. I'm just gonna grab a bottle of water."

"Sure just don't take too long." He said somewhat slurred and his English was breaking down into his German.

After pushing through a few people I got to the bar and motioned to the bartender for a bottle of water. The moment he handed it to me however there was commotion over the music. Having a height advantage on everyone I saw that there was a bunch of guys including a few bouncers blocking the exit of the club. I then shoved my way through the people and got closer and in even in the dimness of the club I spotted an asshole that apparently didn't want to learn his lesson and this time he had back up. Eight of them to be precise and they were in front of Koko, Sophia, Ugo, and Lutz. The one in the center, probably the leader, stepped forward and pointed a finger at Koko.

"Anata wa watashi no kyodai o osotta hitodesu ka!?"

(Are you the one who hit my brother!?)

"None of us speak Japanese shit head and I don't like the way you're saying it!" Ugo said as he got in front of Koko.

He scoffed. "Damn American tourists, always causing fights." He said in a basic form of English, meaning he probably dealt with a few rowdy tourists before.

"Says who?" Koko.

"German." Karl.

"Finnish." Sophia.

"I don't give a damn! You're beatings will be a fair payback."

These clowns were about to start a fight with the wrong party goers and there was a crowd starting to form around them. If this was any other situation I would have pulled my gun and told them to back off or I'd blow their heads off. But tonight was supposed to be strictly fun and we left our guns in the car. I was looking forward to this night ending on a positive note but it looks like that wasn't gonna be the case. I didn't know if the booze was causing me to think this way but I didn't care at that point, they wanted a brawl then we'd give them one. But with the fast paced music going along with the flashing lights I thought it would be awesome if I could get the DJ to play something a little more appropriate. While they were arguing I quickly made my way to the DJ's turntables while most of the crowd was focused on the crew and the bouncers. I put my hand on his shoulder and he turned around, looking up at the sight of an inebriated and very large man caused him to wonder what he did to anger me. But after I looked up the translator app on my phone I pulled up the sentence to play a specific song. He reluctantly agreed and the sound of horns with a slow hip hop beat began to play along with an angry voice.

 _Don't get it twisted this rap shit is mine, motherfucker!_

 _And it's not a fucking game! Fuck what you heard!_

There were a few times in the two and a half years I spent on the run working in a few high end clubs and casinos as a guard I had to take care of a few drunks, fights, or sore losers. But now I was one of the drunks looking to start a fight and once again, irony. Which in the long run is gonna be a bad idea but I don't think these guys were gonna let us go quietly anyway and I don't think any of us wanted to start shooting people the moment we arrived here. As I made my way to their left side I saw Sophia look at me as I approached one of them, probably acting a bit too cocky. I winked at her and she looked back wondering why the hell I was about to do what I was going to do.

 _It's what you hearin, listen._

 _It's what you hearin, listen._

 _It's what you hearin, listen._

I put my hand on the shoulder of the bouncer. "Excuse me."

"Nani!?"

(What!?)

 _I've always wanted to do this._

"SHORYUKEN!"

Then all hell broke loose.

 _X gon give it to ya! Fuck waiting for you to get it on ya own!_

 _X gon deliver to ya! Knock knock! Open up the door its real!_

 _With the Non Stop Pop Pop of Stainless Steel!_

After my big uppercut two of them tackled me and started wailing on me. But before they could start, one of them got a big foot to their face and I saw the figure of Ugo grab the other one and pick him up and throw him to the side like a rag doll. I sprung to my feet just to see Sophia kick one of them back and nail another one with a right hook, Koko was standing behind her with a bottle of rum ready to clock anyone who got close. Another grabbed Lutz by the collar but he then started delivering elbows to his face. But he didn't see another one about to hit him from the rear with a chair. Taking his advantage of focusing on Lutz I ran to him and tackled him to the floor. I then slammed my forearm down on his face and after he was dazed, stood up and stomped on his chest. He howled in pain, I must have broke one or two of his ribs. But out of nowhere came a fist to my jaw, another thug wanted to try his luck. But this one was actually doing some damage because of how much alcohol I had in my system my reactions were slower.

 _First we gonna rock! Then we gonna roll!_

 _Then we let it pop! Go! Let it go!_

 _X gon give it to ya! He gon give it to ya!_

 _X gon give it to ya! He gon give it to ya!_

After he had me reeling I noticed that the crowd was starting to thin out a bit, probably not wanting to get caught in the brawl. I then took a hit to the gut, I had to power through the pain and get back on the offensive. As he was about to make a haymaker I caught his arm but not before he wanted to use his other arm to deliver another punch. Falling back on my Silat training I took his left arm and ran it over his other one, taking the right it and curling it so that he was holding on to his own arm and using his leverage against him. Putting pressure on his socket I swung him around and slammed his back on the bar counter and finished him off with a knee to his gut.

 _I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing, only nigga that you know that can chill come back and get this streets open!_

 _I've been doin this for nineteen years, niggas wanna fight me! Fight these tears!_

After taking care of him I saw across the dance floor that things were starting to get out of control. Other people that weren't part of our fight started beating each other up. Mike was using his size and strength to his advantage by shrugging off blows and knocking out one with his huge fist and then lifting another one up by his neck and slamming him through a table. Lutz saw one coming at him with a beer bottle but he quickly ducked and took him off of his feet with a leg sweep. I then saw one of the two that tackled me grab a chair and was about to hit him while he was on the ground. But as he charged at him Lutz kicked his leg up so that it hit him in the chest and using his own momentum against him, hurled him over into the dance floor where a mosh of people where already brawling.

Sophia was blocking the strikes from one of the larger ones until she managed to loop his arm behind his back, get behind him, kick out one of his legs and elbow him in the head. But then the leader of the bunch came up from behind her and put her in a choke hold. I then dashed towards them but before I could do anything Koko came up from behind and smashed her bottle over his head. But it only sent him stumbling and not knock him down. Bleeding badly and clearly enraged, he moved towards her but just as he was about to deliver a swing I got in front of him and caught his fist. Taking advantage of the surprise I twisted his wrist and as he reacted to the pain I shoved him back. He then tried to deliver a kick but I caught it and twisted it so that he got off balance and fell to the floor. Still holding on to his ankle I thrusted my knee into his and his leg bent in a way it wasn't supposed to. As he laid on the ground screaming in pain, I turned back to the girls.

"I think we better get out of here before this gets any worse!"

"No argument here Damien. Ugo! Lutz! We're leaving!" Koko shouted over the ever increasing mosh pit.

"In a minute!" Ugo said as he slammed two bouncers heads together. "Right!"

"Aww man my suit's ripped!" Lutz said after delivering a finishing blow to the nose of the last of the ones that started the fight.

 _X gon give it to ya! He gon give it to ya!_

 _X gon give it to ya! He gon give it to ya!_

 _First we gonna rock! Then we gonna roll!_

 _Then we let it pop! Go! Let it go!_

The four of us then fell back into our drill of how to protect Koko when dealing with crowds. We shoved our way past the exit and made our way out of the club. We had to get the hell out of there fast because more likely than not somebody had already called the police. We hurried to our car and after getting Koko in first the rest of us piled in with me last but just before I got in the back seat I heard a shout in Japanese and the click of a hammer.

"Hands up!" He said crudely.

Koko and Lutz were both looking at me knowing I'd been caught off guard. Lutz motioned his eyes to where he left his pistol in the car and I shared his thoughts. Give him the opportunity and let him take him out. For now I did what the thug said and turned around with my hands in the air. No surprise to who was pointing the gun at me was the skinny pretty boy douchebag holding a silver snub nose .38.

"Watashi ni on'nanoko o ataete, anata wa kizutsuite inai!" He said pointing at Koko.

(Give me the girl and you don't get hurt!)

The stupid asshole didn't wanna quit but this time he was pushing the issue where his life was at stake. I may have been drunk but not drunk enough to see that this altercation warranted a man losing his life. And since I had a few blows to the head my perception was much better. I held out my finger to let Lutz know not to jump the gun, figuratively speaking. I then smirked arrogantly at the guy to get him even more pissed to create an opening.

"Watashi wa itta-!"

There was my opening, I bursted forward and placed my thumb at the hammer so it wouldn't fire, twisted it to the side and after I got closer to him bursted back with his own weapon pointed at him. Not feeling so confident anymore he put his hands up high and looked like he was about to shit himself. I then grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up slightly, he then realized he was clearly outclassed by the towering monster that he thought was gonna kill him with his own gun. But using my free hand I opened the cylinder and emptied the cartridges one handed and threw the gun away. He relaxed a little bit but I wasn't gonna let him off the hook just yet.

"Hey Sophia, I don't got time for this shit. You want this one?" I tiled my head towards the car hoping she heard me. But Koko jumped in before she could answer.

"All of us don't have time for this shit Damien! We need to go!"

"Ten seconds? I'll buy lunch for everyone tomorrow." I said pleading while looking at her hoping for pity.

She then shut her eyes and looked towards the front seat.

"Make it quick before I hear sirens."

The one eyed amazon then got out of the front seat and cracked her knuckles but looked more angry at me that the scrawny punk.

"You and I are gonna talk later." She said pointing at me letting me know she was serious.

I threw him at her and the punishment began. Even though it was their fault, I was the one that caused it to escalate.

 **0200 Hours**

 **Rihga Royal Hotel, Koko's Suite**

"I should have gone with you guys instead. You three look like you had the time of your lives." Lehm said in his shit giving tone as he lit another cigarette.

We just glared back at him as we were sitting on the angular couch finishing patching ourselves up from our bar brawl. Lutz got a serious cut where his favorite blazer got ripped but he was more depressed realizing that he would have to get a new one. I myself having a pack of ice on my very sore jaw from that haymaker out of nowhere. Ugo wondering why he felt so sore all over figured out why when he took off his flashy shirt to reveal that his torso was covered in bruises.

"I don't think I'll be going out like that again any time soon. OW! Damn!" He said as he put his hand on the bruise on his ribs.

"You owe me a new suit Damien." Lutz said poking a finger through the cut in his jacket.

"Hey none of this was my fault Karl. It was that ass hat that started it by trying to put his hands on Koko." I said gritting because it hurt to move my jaw.

"So how did she handle herself?" Mao asked from the kitchen heating up some noodles he brought back.

The three of us sitting down looked at each other and we all agreed. She surprised the hell out of all of us.

"I have now have more of a reason to NOT get the little lady upset." Lutz said.

I then stood up with somewhat of a stumble, it looked like I hadn't gotten all the booze out of my system. It wasn't the first time I stayed up all night and I knew I was gonna get punished later for escalating the brawl. I might as well have gotten back to work even though we were gonna do more stuff tomorrow.

"I'll go relieve either Tojo or Wiley. I don't mind staying up a few more hours."

Before I could leave Lehm put his hand on my chest. "You're still drunk, we'll handle guard for the rest of the night. You get some sleep."

My vision then started to blur a bit and I just realized that that wasn't really a good idea. I would have to sleep it off and possibly deal with a hangover the next morning. Realizing that I should make the smart decisions for the rest of the night, I should continue to do so.

"Your right but before I do, where's Koko? I should apologize for things getting a little out of hand."

He thumbed towards the door where the girls were sleeping. Lehm and Mao then went to relieve Wiley and Tojo. Lutz crashed on the couch and Ugo went to his room. I then knocked on her door.

"Koko it's me, I'm coming in."

I entered the room and I saw her sitting at a table looking out the balcony door at the Tokyo cityscape with an empty glass in her hand. To my left was the bathroom with the door closed and I could hear a shower running. Sophia must have been in there sobering up. A single lamp on the table was the only illumination from the room. Next to the lamp though was an open half drank bottle of wine, I wondered why the hell she was still drinking after the night we just had. She then set down the glass and looked at me.

"What's up Damien?"

"I wanted to apologize for the night getting out of hand. I can't just blame it all on the drinking cause I'm still the one that caused that little standoff to explode. Plus I should have gone with you when you went to get that champagne, if I did then that goofy haired loser wouldn't have done anything."

I looked away from her as I said that. This one was entirely my fault but as she stood up she walked over to me and looked like I hadn't done anything at all. She then put her fist on my chest and from what I could see, it looked like she had been done drinking for a while.

"The only thing we were doing tonight was having fun and that asshole decided to ruin it. Plus he made a pretty good punching bag for me."

I chuckled. "Aren't you glad those lessons paid off?"

"I always welcome the idea of learning something."

 _Ok, I'm may still be somewhat inebriated but she can't fool me. Might as well ask._

"You're not mad?"

"Of course not." She then made for the door. "But _she_ is. He's all yours!"

She then slammed the door hard and I heard a lock, she led me into one of her traps. Feeling like an absolute idiot I hurried to the door and was about to kick it open. But I heard another one slam behind me. I then heard a slurred woman's voice.

"DAMIEN…"

"Oh shit."

But as I turned around I was hit with fear, confusion, and arousal all at the same. Sophia was standing in the bathroom doorway drenched from the shower wearing nothing but her eyepatch and looking at me rather angry. As she approached me though her steps were not well placed, it seemed as though I found out where all that wine went. But as I was unable to comprehend what I was looking at I couldn't move and when she closed the distance grabbed me by my collar and pulled my face closer to hers, her eye filled with murderous intent. It wasn't that much of a pull though, sometimes after you're done drinking a lot crazy facts come flooding back. She was not your average woman by any means necessary, it's not often you come across one that's only a few inches shorter than you but cut like a statue while maintaining her feminine curves.

"STOP LOOKING AT MY TITS AND LISTEN UP."

"Uhh…are you still drunk Sophia?" I asked somewhat terrified.

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. I WANNA KNOW ONE THING FROM YOU AND I WANNA KNOW NOW."

"S-sure what is it?"

Probably wanted to know why I caused the fight to escalate.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO BE WITH BOTH OF US?"

"Uhh." My brain stopped again.

"I DON'T MIND HER SHARING YOU WITH ME BUT SHE ONLY DESERVES ONE PERSON AND THAT'S ME. YOU'VE BEEN AROUND HER A LOT MORE THAN I LIKE."

 _Hold up. Sharing? The hell's she babbling about?_

"I TOLD HER THAT _I_ BELONG TO HER AND ONLY HER, FOREVER AND ALWAYS. BUT THEN YOU COME ALONG AND SHE JUST THROWS HERSELF AT YOU! YOU! A MAN THAT THINKS HE'S SO COOL JUST BECAUSE HE THINKS HE CAN THROW A FEW PUNCHES AND SHOOT A COUPLE OF BULLETS. I CAN DO ALL THAT TOO."

As she continued to spout, now wine scented, nonsense I took her hand off my collar. Normally in situations where an argument is getting out of control the best thing to do was walk away and let things calm down. This would be the plan to implament.

"Alright, how about we pause this and continue this conversation later? You're drunk, it's late, and I have no fucking clue where this is going. How bout you-WHOA!"

Even drunk she still didn't lose her finesse. She twisted my arm behind me and put me in a chokehold, then kicked my knee out and held my leg in place with her own. I didn't want this to go any crazier because I really didn't want any of the guys to walk in and have a shit load of ammo to use on the both of us later. The plan to wait until she calmed down went up in smoke.

"ACK! Ok! Shit! No I haven't done anything with Koko! I told her no! Happy?" I said choking.

Her grip then tightened further but as I was about to pass out she let go. I collapsed to my knees on the floor trying to get my breath back. But then she grabbed me from behind, the water on her body was soaking through my silk shirt. I hoped this ended soon, women's emotions are something no man will ever understand. It's even worse if they're drunk. First she wanted to strangle me and then she embraces me.

"I'm glad that you're not acting like some horny idiot." She said still somewhat slurred but not as fanatic.

"You're welcome. But can you at least tell me why you're acting this way? I can't figure it out with all the craziness, or the booze." I said catching my breath.

She then rested her head on my shoulder.

"Koko and I had a little talk a while ago, I think you can figure out what it was about. All I want for her is to be happy and not have too much stress in her life. So unless the other side causes things to escalate, don't add fuel to the fire ok?"

"Ok. Is there anything else?"

"I said what I meant, I belong to her. You however…" She then began to unbutton my shirt. "…belong to me."

As flattering as that sounded, I couldn't do this. I grabbed her hands as she started to undo my belt.

"Sophia you're still drunk. This isn't right, just dry off and go to bed."

As she let go of my belt she then slid her body over to my side, tilting my head up to look at her face and not her hypnotizing chest.

"I'm not that drunk, plus that fight was kinda fun, and beating the shit out of that guy who tried to hurt Koko was even better." She then slid her hand down from my chest, to my abs, and towards her target. "I want you to make it perfect."

I grabbed her hand before she did anything else. I was fighting to hold back with all my strength, I couldn't take advantage of her like this.

"Your eye, breath, and the fact you're still naked says otherwise. We still got a few more days so clear…"

"Damien…" She said putting her hands on my face. "Rakast-uhhh." She said in a sloppy form of Finnish as she passed out onto my chest.

"Ugh. Well at least that's over with."

I then picked her up and placed her in the bed and covered her up. She, like me, was gonna have a bad hangover tomorrow. I just hoped she didn't remember this. I then propped up two chairs as my bed for the night. I didn't want her to freak out first thing in the morning. I then turned toward the bathroom, the shower was still running. I figured I might as well rinse the stink off before I go to bed. Tomorrow we'd do the tourist thing, I had to look at least somewhat fresh.

 **October 9** **th** **2010 1000 Hours**

 **Narita International Airport**

The next two days were a lot more quiet than our opening night in Tokyo. The second day we started a little bit later because half of us were still recovering from our hangovers. Like any vacation there was only so much we could do in the short amount of time we were there. But I managed to fill my camera and scrapbook up with a whole lot more pictures. From the restaurants, the botanical gardens, The Meiji Shrine, the Imperial Palace, walking around Ginza there was always something to explore and learn about the culture of Japan. I won't lie though that I felt a little awkward taking so many pictures and looking at the sights in awe that every now and then I caught the locals looking at me. They knew for a fact that I was an American but they didn't expect one to look so, best way to describe it, overwhelming. Even more so that I had an equally powerful woman at my side most of the time, and it wasn't just Koko. I had to enjoy it while it lasted because now came the rather unpleasant part of the trip where I had to deal with Kasper. But since we actually had some fun in the three days we were waiting on him, I wasn't in a terrible mood. Sophia apologized for her behavior, even though I doubt she remembers it, and I managed to make good on the dinner promise I made to her. But despite the enjoyable evening of sushi made fresh right in front of us, she told me she would keep an eye on me in case I did anything crazy again. Along with a rather lengthy lecture she gave me over dinner about how not to be an ass.

As we were waiting in the main terminal for Kasper I walked to the side and leaned on a pillar, she kept looking at me still.

"It's a public place and an airport no less, I'm not gonna go all 'Hulk Smash' ok?"

"It always comes in threes. Just because you've behaved doesn't mean I won't let my guard down." She said.

"You're kinda taking this to a stalkers level. Is that what you're doing? Cause if you are that be hot." I winked.

"Idiot." She then looked to the rest of the crew and moved towards Koko. "He's here."

I looked from behind the pillar to see Kasper in his usual dark blue suit with Chiquita and his goon squad in tow. I still couldn't believe he had a group who's last names all formed into the names of one of the US's darkest poets and writers. I thought he gave them code names as some sort of joke but after Koko told me they were real, I stopped asking questions.

"Hey thanks for waiting! Sorry to make you guys come all this way out here, I hope it's not too much of a pain."

"It wasn't so bad. We had some fun while we were waiting on you." Koko said.

"So you guys started having fun before or after you decided to cause a riot at one of the most high end clubs in Tokyo?"

She sighed. "Why am I not surprised that you know that?"

 _That makes two of us. Nosy prick._

"Koko's been doing her best to keep morale up ever since R died. Her high spirits have been quite adorable, impeccable and all together awesome. Unlike a certain muscle bound, long haired, know-it-all, questionable preference, man child who's wanted to add extra stress onto our trip!" Sophia said frustrated in my direction.

 _Jesus woman I'm right here._

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me, but drama aside I actually came here to speak with Tojo."

"Me? What for?" He asked.

"Well here is not the best place to talk about this. Let's find a tea house somewhere and we'll-"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stop!" Koko said cutting him off. "Before you ask for whatever the hell it is you want there's someone else here that needs to talk to you. Damien?"

That was my cue. I then walked toward him with my hands in my pockets and expecting that he made good on his deal by helping out those orphans. He and Chiquita still had those same damn lazy smiles that never left them. Chiquita then gave me a "hang ten" gesture trying to get my attention.

"Hello _mishka._ You been having fun out here?"

I ignored her comforting tone and after giving her a look of disinterest, turned to Kasper.

"Hello shit head."

"Hello Damien, straightforward as ever."

"I'll cut to the chase. I want to follow up on our deal. To see how those three kids are doing."

He then checked his watch. "Of course, that's no problem. Allan go get us a rental car, I'm gonna take him to see his little friends."

He then looked at his boss concerned. "Uhh sure Kasper. But you don't mean by yourself?"

"Don't worry I'll be fine. Chiquita, meet us at this Chotoro place I was looking up before we arrived, seems nice enough."

"Sounds good boss."

As we followed Allan to get a car Kasper put his hand on my shoulder.

"Koko is right you know. Since it was the two of us that made the deal it only be appropriate for me to let you know how you're orphan friends are doing in their new home."

"I agree cause if I find anything less than adequate, that hand is the first thing I'm going to break."


	35. Chapter 34

**Author's Note: This is for future references in case anyone asks again cause I've gotten a few of them.**

 **Yes, I am expanding the universe. Along with some scenes that would be replaced with real world reactions. I'm really trying to top the one where Damien went berserk on Karen Low. And I'm going to open many doors for this before Act 2 is over and will get to the final act. The reason why it's sometimes sprinkled around and on others more open is because of Damien. You see it through his eyes, it's just one or two things. In third person, it's more open. Psychologically speaking he's anti-social and has anger issues, but he's gradually moving away from that behavior.**

 **The way I wanted to write this is because I wanted to place a man who had nothing and was suffering and then he taken in by the generosity of those that he could relate to and rebuild his humanity. He finds new memories, friends, adventures, and even love. But the price for all of this will be too much to bare and it will all come crumbling down when he realizes he made a deal with the devi** **l.**

 **Finally I will, and already have, include new characters. I already introduced Floyd Hekmatyar and he will make a return, along with new locations and events. But until then I quote Donald Sutherland from one of my favorite war movies: "Have a little faith baby. Have a little faith."**

 **Chapter 34: The Ghosts**

 **October 9** **th** **2010 1030 Hours**

 **Highway 296, Yachiyo, Japan**

The ride over there was simple because of the high walls that were raised on the highway but excruciating because the one asshole I wanted to strangle based on principle was right next to me and I couldn't do it. It was only through experience and being on the opposite side that I realized that a man's word literally held their weight in gold. If he went back on it then the word would spread that his trust was worthless and no one would deal with him. Other's would even sell him out, it was a lesson I had learned the hard way when I first descended into the life I wandered into. I couldn't always just do what I pleased. It would later come back to bite me in the ass and that bite every now and then came from the US. It was why I was borderline paranoid until I had joined up with Koko.

As I stared out of the car window I could only make out tall buildings every so often but he said that we were getting close to a residential neighborhood. Kasper kept trying to start a conversation with me the whole trip, he wouldn't get one. At least not a pleasant one.

"You know you could at least have said hello to Chiquita. You'd be amazed on how much she compliments you. Those little scuffles you two have had seem to have given off a real positive impression on her."

I learned a long time ago that trying to impress people made you start walking down the path into becoming a kiss ass. Like I'd even care about what some mentally unstable old broad thought about me. Doing things for myself had less of a chance of putting me in a bad mood but reality tends to be a little harsh. It actually made me feel even more lonely than I wanted. It's probably why I was as distant as I was. I did find it weird however that I opened up and interacted with kids more than I did adults. It happened on a few jobs where I was just, in the literal sense, a babysitter for a single day. They were ignorant and simply didn't know any better to what and who I really was, and to me that felt like a huge weight had been taken on my shoulders. The more they wanted to talk about _things_ and the less they knew about _me_ , the better. When I first came across the four orphan's in Myanmar it was Moka that I met first when I was getting chow in the camp's mess hall. Naturally she was so scared of me that when I approached her she was frozen in place. But all I wanted to do was give back the pear from the plate of fruit that she dropped while she was walking to the others to eat. After I went back to eat by myself, she knew I wasn't like the rest of Colonel Win's mongrels. She walked over to me and asked why I looked so mad, I couldn't tell her the real reason so I just said there was no dessert. She found it very funny and asked if I wanted to eat with them and it grew from there. Besides them looking a bit disheveled, I was a little skeptical if they were under Win's command as child soldiers but thankfully that wasn't the case. Even though I saved the rest I still felt like absolute shit for not saving all of them. If anything, at least she didn't get to see my real side when I burned Win's outpost to the ground and tore his men to pieces. I could only imagine what the rest of the children were thinking when the base turned into a warzone and they were hiding in one of the trucks in the motor pool. At least when Kasper found them he took care of them properly as opposed to just leaving them there. It still didn't change the fact that he almost killed me, but if Koko said that she and her brother weren't the types that sell people short I believed her as opposed to her brother. Since he came up with where he got them put up for adoption I let him drive towards where Maurice, Elizabeth and Aung now lived. I didn't know what to expect so I'd let him explain the moment we got there. Until then, I could give a damn about what he said.

"Come on Damien I know you hate my guts but I'm falling asleep here."

As I continued to look out the window I rolled my eyes and let out a silent annoyed sigh.

 _Might as well say something to shut him up._

"I just can't think of anything to say right at this very moment." I turned to him. "And even if I did, it's not like I'd talk to a douchebag like you."

He then chuckled. "Now Damien there's no need to be rude. That's Mr. Douchebag."

"Ugh. Just drive." I said while pinching the top part of my nose.

 **1045 Hours**

After we got off the freeway we then drove for a few minutes through a residential area. The tightly packed houses and apartments were befitting of a Japanese suburb. I kept an eye on the surroundings and I we eventually came across a school on a hillside. It looked like your average run of the mill high school, about three floors high, walled off, nothing special except for a few extra trees. There were a lot of kids of different ages from adolescents to teenagers walking along a brick roadway. It wasn't that late in the day and it wasn't lunch time. As I wondered where they were all going, Kasper explained as he turned the car off.

"Well we're here. I take it that you can see that this is where your little friends have their new home. It's a rather nice prep school where students attend here from elementary to high school. Their adoptive mother is a little strict but they've actually done quite a lot for themselves. Today is Saturday so this should be their half day and…huh take a look in center. Behind the seniors."

I focused in where he was pointing and saw three familiar faces, Maurice, Aung, and Elizabeth. A lot cleaner looking and better fed than I remember them from eight months ago. They all had the same uniforms and backpacks but Elizabeth had the most decorated with a bunch of mini figurines. She also had two white ribbons in her hair that held up a pair of pigtails with a beaming smile which made her look adorable. Aung was chomping down on two different candy bars in one hand and reading one of his textbooks in the other. I couldn't make out what he was reading but it looked like he enjoyed his studies. Lastly there was Maurice just taking his time walking with them, looking rather plain. But as I saw another boy run up to him to see what's up I noticed that when he turned his head toward him to say hello I saw that his hair was much longer. I didn't need to guess who he was trying to copy.

"I take it by the look on your face that you see how well they're doing. Why don't we go and say hello?"

While it sounded like a good idea at first I paused as I opened the latch on the car door. They were living a happy, normal life. Something I should not involve myself with and this is the first time in over two years that in which I made a deal and it came out exactly as I had planned.

"What's wrong Damien? Don't you wanna let them know you're ok and catch up on things?"

I then shut the car door. "No, there's no need. They're happy and away from the blood, misery and violence of _our_ world. They deserve far better than to keep wondering what happened to someone like me."

Kasper then shut his door and put the key's back in the ignition. "I understand, you don't need to explain any further. Let's head back to Koko."

He started the car and then we went back the same why we came. As he backed up I saw Elizabeth one last time in the side mirror before the three took a left leading away from the school. She paused as she must have seen our car and for a brief second we made eye contact. She tilted her head slightly wondering who was there but then looked in the direction where Aung and Maurice went and then ran off to catch up with them.

 _Bye guys._

Hopefully I wouldn't see them again and that would be one chapter in my life that I could close and not have to worry about later on. As we got back on the highway I knew we had to get back to business with whatever the hell he wanted us to clean up. I asked him bluntly.

"Speaking of her, why do you need her and Tojo's help? I overheard Chiquita before we left talking about letting the "ghosts" know what you've done."

"Don't worry I have to explain everything to her, just have a little patience until we get back."

This was figuratively killing me to admit this but I was glad he held up his end of the deal and didn't act like a fucking weasel. He may have earned a few positive points from me but he was still didn't change the fact that he almost killed me. But Koko's lessons on me on being practical were starting to make sense. The world I live in right now doesn't play by the normal rules of a normal society. You have to see the bigger picture, especially when you make a deal. You have to honor it.

"Thank you for making sure that they ended up infinitely better off than they were." I said with sincerity.

"It's no problem, your welcome Damien." He said with equal sincerity.

"I will admit though, even when you said you'd take me to see them by yourself, I was thinking two things. Either you got two big and heavy pieces of adamantium in between your legs or you're so stupid you'd make Ralph Wiggum look like a member of MENSA. Going somewhere alone with a guy you nearly killed? It kinda makes me question your sanity."

He then let out a hearty chuckle. "For the record I never lie to others to get them to win them over and like me."

"Well remember that trust is a two way street. While you didn't INTENTIONALLY try to kill me, you almost did. So were not even just yet, remember that." I said ending with me pointing at him.

"Hmm. In my experience, never trust anybody. But I know you trust Koko a lot more than you let on and I see nothing wrong there. Now I know that you won't be working for Koko forever and despite what you may think I'm not one that has tunnel vision. I don't discriminate of whoever is in my employment. If you ever stop, why don't you come work for me? My door is always open. You may work for the same company but the jobs are a lot less frequent and more profitable."

"Yeah. I'd feel better castrating myself with blunt rocks." I said sarcastically.

"Hey you never know what life might throw your way." He said to me smiling.

 _Well I will admit, it wasn't until you sent me to Koko that shit actually stopped flying into my face almost EVERY goddamn day._

 **1123 Hours**

 **Chotoro Tea House, Narita**

We arrived at our designated meet up with both of our crews at from first glance a rustic old Japanese place from the outside but inside was reoutfitted to look like a modern lounge on the inside. Everyone was chatting with each other catching up on things and getting their lunches. But what I noticed immediately except for the staff that the only ones here were Koko and Kasper's crews.

"Lord, we can't be any more obvious. It's like we just rented the place for ourselves." He said.

"Yeah no shit." I said annoyed by his observation while looking at Koko waving to us both.

"Glad you two are back, lunch will be out soon. I hope you don't mind but I ordered the same thing for everyone." Koko said addressing us both.

Kasper went towards where Koko was sitting next to Tojo while I made for the circular table and seats next to them where Sophia was chatting with Lehm. As I sat down next to her I then felt a soft pat on my head from behind me. Being the silent killer she literally was, Chiquita had snuck up standing next to me with her welded on smile.

"Well _mishka_ how are your little friends?" She asked as she was gently ruffling my hair. My eyebrow raised high.

 _Why are you touching me?_

She then sat down next to Lehm, looked at him with her lazy smile, and his grin grew a little bit. A sort of silent hello is what they both did. I was a little surprised that they acted somewhat like a still married couple considering the multiple hook ups and break ups. My guess was that while they were working together they probably wanted to scam the benefits of working for HCLI as a married couple. They probably didn't really love each other just tolerated each other. Then again everyone's perception of love, marriage, or love and marriage is different. The same thing was with relationships as well and as far as Sophia and me went, it was rather out there. Chiquita then looked back at me tilting her head slightly, still wanting her answer.

"They're alright and as you can see your boss isn't mangled mess, so it went well." I said thumbing in the direction he was sitting.

Sophia then let out an annoyed sigh. "Just ignore him. He always acts like this when he can't cut loose."

"I do have a right to be pissed at people I don't like." I said looking towards her.

"Oh God did you not listen to anything I said in the last few days?" She said rubbing her forehead.

"Now now you two don't argue." Chiquita then poured two cups of tea and pushed them toward us. "From what the old man here told me you've taken quite a turn around since we last met. But that's for when lunch comes, go ahead and tell them Kasper."

"Of course." He turned to Koko and Tojo. "It seems I have a new rival. HQ couldn't dig anything up on these guys so I did some research on my own. But when I thought about Tojo it hit me, it couldn't have been more obvious. They were formally a part of the Joint Staff and are part of a special branch of Defense Intelligence Headquarters, or the Johohonbu, that work in conjunction with the JSDF as a special response force."

I was looking at Tojo and his face was souring at every word Kasper said. No doubt he was referring to some names and missions he truly wanted to forget while he was with Japanese Intelligence. During one of our card games a few months back that he first came into HCLI through Kasper a couple of years prior. When I asked how that happened in a specific tone the lucky bastard said he was rather social. He told me about a special type of autonomous unit that he was with and from what I could interpret as an evolved type of Japanese Delta Force. Except that they operated on behalf of themselves and not for Japan. It sounded exactly like Kane and his clown posse all over again. Even though I busted his chops more than once, he was another member of the crew I could connect with on a deep level. Except he just up and quit the normal way and I blew the hell out of a CIA black site.

"They're also known as the SR Unit and the man in charge is one Colonel Yosuke Hinoki. That's right Tojo, it's your old crew."

"Terrific." He said clearly upset as he adjusted his glasses.

"The reason I called for you specifically was that Hinoki is just a photograph to me. But since you actually used to work for the Colonel I figure you could give me a hand. Because I'm about 99 percent certain that these are the ghosts that have been haunting me and causing me and HCLI problems in South East Asia. But I need to know for sure since you're the only JSDF officer I know that actually made contact with these guys."

"This is sounding more like a favor than an order Kasper, how about you paint me a clear picture first."

Tojo knew what he wanted and this was sounding more and more like Kasper's problem alone.

"Now I know that you used to work for me but I didn't come to exploit that and honestly I thought you would be more into this kind of stuff. I know you left because you didn't like the way I conducted business, but you bounced around from job to job until you came back and started working for Koko. Think of this as refreshing feeling of old times. We can never escape the chains of our past can we?"

As I was sipping my tea I bit the cup a little harder than I should have and growled. He does know I'm sitting not more than five feet from him and he also knows the memories of MY past aren't what you call refreshing. But before I could bite through the cup, Sophia put her hand on my leg letting me know to relax.

"You know this doesn't feel right in the least." Koko said leaning forward to her brother. "You're taking them kind of likely, that they're an easy win. But knowing you, you already picked a fight with them and now you want ME to clean up the mess. Wipe your own ass Kasper."

It was almost as if she was sensing my feelings. I then bursted out a deep laugh as I took another swig of tea, making a mess of myself in the process. But I didn't care, she burned his ass good and she knew that he could have worded his explanation a little better.

"Hey now hear me out. I didn't pick a fight with anyone or anything, I only accepted a challenge from an invisible man who tried to strangle me in the dark. So naturally I took a swing and kept swinging until I hit something and I wouldn't be coming to you if I was taking this likely. I know you don't like Koko but I know you'll help me."

She then took a lengthy sip of tea as our lunches came in, she must have ordered the same type of ramen for everyone. She didn't want to deal with her brothers shit any more than I did. She looked toward me and Sophia and I shook my head "no" indicating it was his problem but then turned to Lehm and Chiquita who smirked in agreement and then turned back to her brother.

"If you want to discuss business then spare me the hyperbole."

 _Well at least she's being bottom line up front._

"And if I actually can prove that it IS them, what are you going to do about them?" Tojo asked.

"Crush them of course. I just need you to make them easier to see." He said rather casually.

"And there he is, the man who lives for destruction. You're never gonna change are you?"

Kasper then just answered with his lazy smile and slurped up the noodles from his bowl. Like any other criminal, he had a vicious streak and played it with his own unique charisma. To me it seemed like arrogance, but this type of charisma seems to be hereditary in the Hekmatyar family. Koko at least backs her's up with facts at least. But every now and then she presents herself with a very cold and overbearing dominance and it happens when she knows she's won and her opponent has nothing to counter attack with.

"He won't change either." Tojo looked back to the photo. "Hinoki is about as steadfast a giant rock, I'm letting you know this now this isn't going to run smoothly."

"I remember you telling me that when you left the SR Unit that they wouldn't be hindered in the slightest and you were right. A man can't be changed so easily but a group can. It seems like Hinoki's castle that he's working so hard to maintain might be made out of sand."

 _Man is never short on metaphors and euphemisms._

I could already tell that our next fun filled shootout was going to happen eventually so I would have to prep for the inevitable later. Since he came to us first, I wanted to be damn sure that he owed us. I downed the next my next bite of noodles and jumped in the conversation by pointing my chopsticks at Kasper.

"Remember that this is still primarily YOUR problem. Don't expect Koko and the rest of us to do all the heavy lifting."

He chuckled. "I know Damien. I already have thought of a two pronged plan we can set into motion. But after lunch first of course. So Koko? Tojo? Do we have a deal?"

She was beginning to drink her broth. "This will cost you, you know?'

"Hmm. I didn't figure it was free."

I then left them to their own conversation and went back to finishing my meal. The tender meat and golden broth of the ramen was hot till the last bite. Lehm wasn't kidding about the food here, no matter where you go it's awesome and they take the time to make it come out properly. As I set down my bowl there was a light tap on my head. Sophia looking at me with her chopstick she hit me with.

"God it's like talking to a brick wall." She said sounding like she was nagging.

"Hey I was just backing up Koko and Tojo's argument what's wrong with that?"

"It's not your problem and Koko can handle something like that herself. Not everything has to include you and your bloated ego."

 _Ok that's it, time to go there._

"And the difference between me and you swooning over Koko like a fangirl is?" I said as I leaned toward her in a gritted whisper.

She then started to blush and was stammering with trying to say something. But I just smiled in triumph and took a victorious sip of my tea, extended pinky and everything. But as I went to refill it I heard snickering from across us. Chiquita had her hand over her mouth and Lehm was looking off in the distance with a dumb look on his face.

"What?" I asked looking in Chiquita's direction.

"It's nothing, I'm just surprised on how much you've changed Damien."

"Actually he's been like this for a while now. You just kept catching him on his bad days." Lehm spoke up.

"Oh? Well what's he usually like?"

"In a word, 'ass'." Sophia said looking at me while finishing the last of her noodles.

I just rolled my eyes and ignored her.

"He has his faults but he more than makes up for it with his conviction, confidence and determination. He's a hell of a soldier, and a hell of a friend." Lehm said.

"Tell me." Chiquita said looking at him and then back to us. "Is it like looking in a mirror?"

Sophia and I both froze at what she just said. I couldn't believe that they were comparing themselves to us. I would be lying if I had said that this wasn't awkward but the comparison of relationships between us and them was kinda like the distance between the ground and the sky. As we were doing our best not to act embarrassed teens in front of our parents, Lehm looked at both of us and then back to Chiquita.

"Not in the least." He said in his usual bored draw.

Hopefully they would drop this for now. But I will admit, while I do have feelings for Sophia, I don't know if I've reached the "L" word yet. It's only been a few months and we keep our relationship out of sight of the rest of the crew, even though they knew. But we both needed to figure out how to not argue as much. I said to her before that alpha's collide and they don't connect. I need to start connecting and stop colliding. I couldn't ask Lehm for a smoke since that didn't work so I wished this tea had some alcohol in it to calm my nerves.

"So how long have they been screwing each other?" She asked with a curiosity of interest as I spat out my tea all over the table while dropping the cup.

 _SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE FUCK!?_

 **1300 Hours**

 **Narita International Airport**

After a very embarrassing moment for both me and Sophia, Kasper wanted to get the plan into operation immediately. So the moment we were done with lunch we headed right back to the airport and they were immediately on a plane back to Jakarta. As we all stood outside in one of the parking lots that oversaw the runways, watching his plane leave on time, I looked to Tojo. This was his show now and he had to now play detective to see if his old friends had decided to butt into Kasper's business.

"Talks his mouth off and jumps right back on board a plane." Koko said looking at Kasper's flight taking off.

"Well Tojo what's the plan?" I said feeling the slight remaining wetness of tea on my shirt.

"The SR Unit has a HQ that is set up as a dummy corporation in Jakarta. Kasper is gonna distract them there while we work here."

"And by "distract" I take it you mean he's gonna lure them into an ambush?" I asked probably knowing the answer.

"We'll like I said Damien I need to find out if it IS them first."

I then turned to Koko. "You're being kind of generous with him, even if you say that this is a business transaction. Why don't you let him handle his own problems since he doesn't need to be potty trained anymore?" I said ending with a smirk.

"The two of us have always looked after each other. Ever since we were kids we've had to rely on each other to get to where we are today. With Floyd not being around all the time we had to solve whatever problems we had our own way. Despite me sounding like I was gonna blow him off I would never do that to him, he'd do the same thing if I came to him. Besides if we succeed my brother will get his trade routes in Southeast Asia back, and the boat load of cash he WILL give me is a plus."

She then turned to Tojo, her tone turned to concern.

"This is not however without risk. This means you're going to have to fight against your own team and boss. Do you feel torn about that?"

"Nope. Not in the least." He said with a straight face.

The both of us stared at him slightly perplexed that he was that honest in his response. I myself was a little concerned, granted I wasn't the one to lecture him on it, but it kind of sounded as if he was going after his old high school bully and would get back at him without consequence. Except in this scenario it involved the loss of life.

"Hey don't look at me like that, I'm not a heartless bastard. I'm not gonna beat myself up, I know Hinoki was my mentor and he beat so much invaluable knowledge into my head I was truly considering to become a full-fledged spy, I will never forget that. But I'm a pro and I work for you now, and I can't beat my enemies if I let my feelings get involved."

It was an all too true fact in war. Men on opposite sides who've either never met each other or have known that they aren't technically bad people had to fight and kill one another because one side was a threat to the other. It was either one or the other and if you let your emotions get the better of you, you'd be dead.

But speaking of emotions I was wondering why Sophia had an angry look on her face when she approached Tojo from behind and then put him in a sleeper hold.

"Uhh…why are you strangling him?" I asked her dumbfounded.

"I needed an excuse to blow off some steam from earlier."

"Why the hell you taking it out on him?"

"Him putting a sad look on my Koko's face was good enough!" She said tightening her grip.

 _Oh God, this crap again?_

"Damien! Help! Get her off!" Tojo said choking.

We still needed Tojo alive to do this plan so I didn't have much of a choice. I let out an annoyed sigh and casually approached them to break the hold. But I hesitated when I got close because I saw the lack of resistance and slightly pleasured looked on his face. I then realized why based on the position of Sophia's body on Tojo's, those damn things aren't what you would call subtle. What's more pathetic is that that's a real desperate way to try and cop a feel, AND she's my girl.

"Blacking out! Please!" He pleaded.

I counted about another eight or nine seconds but as soon as his eyes started rolling into the back of his head that was enough. I tiled my head to get her attention and gave an innocent look to let him go. She did and Tojo dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes gasping for air. I then gave her a deadpanned look and she looked away embarrassed. I then leaned down and lifted Tojo up by his collar.

"Ok Sherlock time to put your plan into motion, so what's the first step?"

He let out a nasty hack. "I still got the Colonel's number, hopefully he picks up."

He then took out his phone and dialed it in while putting it on speaker, the rest of us gave him some breathing room. Wanting to make sure that the conversation was as private as possible. Wouldn't have mattered anyway since none of us speak Japanese.

"Hinoki Taisa. Kon'nichiwa. Watashi wa kore ga ao kara hazurete iru koto o shitte imasuga, -bun ga arimasu ka? Sore wa Tojo Akhito."

(Colonel Hinoki. Good afternoon. I know that this is out of the blue, but do you have a minute? It's Akihito Tojo.)

" _Tojo? Uwa, soreha nenreidesu. De, anata wa genkidesu ka? Anata wa Nihon ni imasu ka? Watashi wa ima uten shite imasu."_

(Tojo? Wow it's been ages. So how are you? I take it you're in Japan? Hang on I'm driving right now.)

"Watashi wa benrina toki ni betsu no jikan o yobimodusu koto ga dekimasu."

(I can call back another time when it's convenient.)

" _Ie, sore wa daijobudesu. Watashi wa motsu to kiken'na koto o shita. Anata wa dodeshita ka?"_

(No that's ok. I've done more dangerous things. So how have you been?)

"Genkidesu. Watashi wa Nihon ni imasu."

(I'm just fine. I'm in Japan right now on business.)

" _Anata wa mada HCLI no Kasper de hataraite imasu ka? Saigo ni watshi wa anata ga yameru to kiita. Watashi ga anata ni oshieta sukiru o mada shiyo shite iru koto o negate imasu."_

(You still working for Kasper at HCLI? Last I heard you quit. I hope you're still using those skills I taught you.)

"Watashi wa madaesu. Shikashi, watashi wa sukoshi mae ni Kasper de hataraku koto o yamemashita. Watashi wa mada HCLI no tame ni hatarakunode, watashi wa anata to hanashi o shitakatta nodesu. Watashi wa anata ga tonan'ajia no Kasper no boeki ruto kara nukedasu koto o nozomimasu. HCLI wa, yunitto o haijo suru tame no taisaku o kojite imasu."

(I still am. But I quit working for Kasper a while ago. I still work for HCLI and that's why I wanted to talk to you. I want you to pull out of Kasper's trade routes in Southeast Asia. HCLI is taking measures to eliminate the unit.)

" _Hontoni? Ma sore wa zan'nendesu. Kasper wa watashitachi o dono yo ni hyogen shite imasu ka?"_

(Really? Well that's unfortunate. How has Kasper been describing us?)

"Yurei."

(Ghosts.)

" _Kanari seikakuna setsumei. Menimienai nigirikobushi ga mottomo dageki o ataemasu. Anata wa watashi ga kokishin o motte imasu. Kara wa mienai nanika o utsu koto o dono yo ni keikaku shite imasu ka?"_

(Pretty accurate description. Having an invisible fist lands the most damaging blow. You have me curious though. How does he plan on beating something he can't see?)

"Watashi wa sorera o miru hoho o shitte imasu. Sore ga watashi no yakuwaridesu."

(I know the way to see them. That's my role.)

He then let out a laugh at the other end. _"Anata go doko ni iru no ka wa kanari sawagashidesu. Anata wa kuko ni imasu ka? Kono kaiwa wa owatta yodesu. Sono yakedo denwa ni tsuri kakaru."_ Then there was a click that he must have hung up.

(It's rather noisy where you're at. Are you at the airport? Looks like this conversation is over. Hang onto that burn phone.)

He then put his phone back in his pocket and ran his hand through his hair. "Phew."

"Wow you seriously said 'Phew'? I thought you would have hauled ass to the nearest exit after being put into such a rather awkward spot." Lehm spoke up from behind him.

"Shut up you old fart. Like I'd ever bolt from a job. Your sense of humor is fucked up."

 **1530 Hours**

 **Hikarigaoka Park, Nerima**

Knowing that his protégé had personally called him to inform him about the incident involving HCLI, Hinoki was well aware of the growing situation that was going on in Jakarta. His contacts in the US National Security Agency had already forwarded some information about Koko Hekmatyar and HCLI conducting business with a certain group of computer science experts but this was not the case. He had to focus on why HCLI was being a little too aggressive in passing through their arms trade routes in Southeast Asia. He was sitting in on a conference call over his phone while his subordinates, one in Jakarta and the other in Tokyo, were ready to follow up their report.

" _Kurosaka, you're up next."_

" _The so called robbery happened during a blackout during the storm. Nualkhair and three others were shot. Twice in the heart and once in the head. Evidence is conclusive that this was a professional hit. Probably done by…"_

"Kasper. It was his men that did it. I already know." Hinoki said cutting off the woman on the phone.

" _Colonel?"_

" _What do you mean sir?"_

"I didn't hear it from him specifically but it happened as I was driving from DHI headquarters I heard a clear admission of guilt from a rather familiar individual."

" _What now sir?"_

" _The bastards gunning for us!"_

"Calm down you two we're in control of this. For Kasper we'll initialize Plan K, though we'll have to alter it significantly though. Now our targets younger sister Koko is in Japan with her team, we'll call this Operation Double K and we're going beyond covert ops. Koko employs some rather dangerous and highly trained mercenaries plus they know how I think. So we'll confuse them, we'll launch a multipronged attack, full combat scenario. It WILL get messy."

" _Sounds good to me sir. I'll get the teams ready!"_ He said enthusiastically as he hung up.

"What about you Kurosaka?" Hinoki asked.

" _I'm on board with the plan but this is highly irregular sir. Why the change in tactics?"_

"It's nothing your team needs to worry about Kurosaka. From what I've gathered Koko's taken in an individual that the US would very much like to have. I figure if we deliver him dead or alive it will let our friends in Washington allow us to continue our operations in Southeast Asia a little bit easier."

" _Very well sir. We won't let you down sir!"_

"Alright then, go and cut loose."

He hung up his phone and leaned back on the bench he was sitting on and sighed.

"We'll I gave them the fight that they've been itching for so long. Either way, I'll come out of this unscathed. Koko may be young but her reputation and power speaks for itself. She truly walks along the grey path, though I'm not entirely sure why she's under the eye of the American's more than ever before. It's not like this so called "Nightmare" she has with her sounds more like a faint than a threat. Whoever he is he seems more like a ghost than we are. I can't pull up anything on him, it's like he doesn't exist."

 **1730 Hours**

 **Rihga Royal Hotel, Koko's Suite**

After dinner we all gathered together for a meeting for what Tojo managed to find. He literally spent the entire day on the phone and looking at his computer. His eyes were bloodshot from looking at a computer screen all day and throat somewhat dry from talking to his contacts and a few people who had noticed an increase in Japanese influence in Indonesia.

"Looks like Kasper was right Koko. After doing some digging, the SR Unit has been the ones behind all of this."

"Rather quick work, well done. Why don't you fill the rest of us in on the SR Unit."

"Try and keep it short and sweet, I mean all we really need to know is how to stop these guys." I spoke up.

"Main focus, intel and espionage. During the Cold War when they were still under the Joint Staff they worked primarily with the US Defense Intelligence Agency."

"DIA? Oh this just got a lot better." I said as I leaned back on the couch none too thrilled.

Formed by infamous SECDEF Robert McNamara in the 60's the DIA was formed to inform the US Government of the military intentions and capabilities of foreign governments as well as those that participate on a world stage. The main difference between them and the CIA is that they focus on intelligence that affects the US on a national level while the CIA focuses on more general intelligence needs. In short, if you wanted to find the gaps in the armor of another nations army, these were the guys for the job.

"Historically it's always been difficult for any type of intelligence agency to operate in Japan. The police normally have all the political power and my government has never created a consistent international policy."

"Article 9." Wiley chimed in by highlighting the clause of the Japanese constitution that renounced war.

"Exactly. It's tough to try and do your job in the world of spy's if you don't really have a clear picture of what the rules are. In recent years you couldn't really say that the JSDF's counter or even central intelligence as 'operational'. But when the US was picking up in Vietnam, this was where we started to shine. There were spots the US obviously could not go but Japan could. The original director of the SR Unit stationed himself in Jakarta with about fifty elite operatives from the JSDF. Many of them were trained by the DIA, Delta Force, and the SEALs so they had the training but like all the other agencies that were made before them they did not have the funding to stay afloat."

"Why do I have this feeling that in order for them to keep operating they got their cash from people they shouldn't have?" I asked as I tapped Lutz on the back of the head so that he didn't dose off.

"We'll they didn't dip into the Golden Triangle if that's what you're thinking. They supplemented arms deals between the US and the JSDF."

"And there it is. Cause during this time we had to be the offensive element if war ever broke out in Asia again but we couldn't just leave you guys defenseless."

"Yep. Because of that they began to thrive in weapons deals and fought with information warfare against the growing communist powers in Southeast Asia. But there arms budget became so successful that their SR budget became unnecessary."

"Greed, no surprise there."

"After the Cold War ended the SR Unit underwent a change, and this was when Colonel Hinoki was appointed as its new director. It happened in '97 when there was a reformation of Japan's intelligence community into what it is today, the Johohonbu. Then they slipped even further into the cracks becoming harder to see, only a handful of Japanese officials even know they exist. They don't really have anyone to answer to."

"A totally rouge unit that went into the arms business for themselves. They're kinda starting to sound like Pakistan's ISI or hell let's just call them the bad guys from 'Lethal Weapon' and drop them in Japan."

"Well they're not that charismatic but since Kasper was expanding his routes it was only a matter of time before he bumped into Hinoki so conflict was inevitable. You were there for a while, you know with all the cultural, political and religious ideologies causing so many problems it's a gold mine for the arms trade."

"Yeah and as sick as it sounds, as long as those idiots down there keep throwing people into the grinder and cranking out drugs, gun running is essentially a license to print money." I said as I made the cash gesture with my hand.

"Well that's enough for that. Tell us about Hinoki." Koko said.

"His cover is that he's the senior director of that dummy corporation along with a sham marriage to some Thai woman in order maintain the image of legitimate businessman. Honestly I have no idea how he keeps all of these lies of his straight."

Being on both sides of the playing field I learned a lot during the time when I was constantly on the move. How to launder money to be clean, set up dummy corporations like these guys were doing so I can funnel and spend the money I got from jobs, and make sure that they're set up in tax haven's so that international authorities couldn't trace me. I went by literally a dozen different fake names and have had to change the name of the source in how I use my money from my Swiss account three times until I was put on Koko's books as legit. It's all about patience but Hinoki had more challenges than I did since he ran a group and I only have myself to worry about.

"Man started out young as a JSDF infantry officer, got Ranger qualified too. Then he enrolled in command school and became an officer in the DIA, worked his way into the SR Unit and distinguished himself there. He really caught the DIA's attention when he posed as a businessman and smuggled himself into an Iranian factory where they were in the process of enriching uranium for their nuclear program. Cleaned them out without ever knowing he was there."

 _Jesus. This guy IS a ghost._

"How's this guy's fighting style?"

"When it comes to handling a secret unit he's old school. Lure a target into the shadows and take them out while they're in the dark. He does like to do things quiet so he won't do this head on."

"Hmm. Seems like he and I have a lot in common, shame that we can't get along and talk things out properly. Oh well, that's life. Can't have everything go smooth and peaceful." Koko said.

 _Life of a mixture of crime and warfare. Neither of which are smooth, much less peaceful._

 **2300 Hours**

While I was on patrol with Tojo I couldn't shake the feeling in the back of my head that this was gonna get messy. I like to be naturally prepared for anything, and walking around with just my duel .45's made me feel uncomfortable.

"You feel nervous too big guy?" He asked.

"I won't lie this is starting to feel a little bit like when I was first on the run. I had to be aware of everything. But at least this time I'm deliberately walking into the shadows. I just have to wait and see what DOES happen and hope I'm not hitting smoke."

"Isn't this like what happened with Hex?"

"Nah. Hopefully we can squash this without progressing further than we need to. And if you ask me Koko's the craziest one out of all of this. Kasper's still a dickhole, but he could have handled this himself. He didn't need to bring Koko into this and I mean for God's sake she's got enough enemies as it is. But as painful as this is to admit, he kept his promise, so I trust him a little bit more. And that he needed her help."

As I was checking my watch to see that our shift was almost over his phone started to buzz. "Hai? Tashika ni, watashi wa sore o yomudeshou."

"Hinoki?" I asked as I nodded to Lutz and Mao who took over our patrol.

"Yep. Looks like we'll start this sooner rather than later. But that's for tomorrow morning, I'll let Koko know later. Night."

"Later."

We both went our separate ways and I went towards my room. As I opened the door and turned on the lights I heard the TV was on. I saw Sophia lying back on the bed acting casual, flipping through channels. I noticed that her hair was wet, she must have just got out of the shower.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Koko?" I asked as I put my leather jacket on a chair.

"She got drunk again." Not looking at me as she was glued on the TV.

"Nuff said." I then sat on the bed next to her getting shoulder to shoulder. "So?"

"So?"

"Was it really necessary to act the way you did at the airport today? This doesn't have anything to do with the bar fight does it? Cause you know that wasn't my fault."

"No it doesn't. I just like seeing you react the way you do."

 _So that's how she wants to play it? Time to rev up the charm._

"Well _I_ just like seeing you. Every. Inch. Of. You." I said walking my fingers up her arm.

"Just cause I don't wanna deal with Koko's drunken behavior again doesn't mean you get laid tonight." She said grabbing my hand with her eye's slanted.

"How 'bout tomorrow night?" I asked mischievously.

"Can you please focus that we're preparing for a fight we might not be able to see very well in!?" She said glaring at me.

"Ok ok shit! I was just trying alleviate the tension." I said holding my hands up in defense.

We then looked back toward the TV, I got bored after about five seconds on reading the English subtitles on whatever was on. Just some talk show talking about nothing.

"Hey."

"What?"

"What does this get me?"

I then put my hand on her face and kissed her. I made it a little long but no tongue. But as I pulled back she had the look on her face as if it was just mediocre.

"Still not happening."

"Hmpf. You're no fun." I said looking away and crossing my arms.

"Yet." She simply said and I smiled.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35: The Exorcists**

 **October 10** **th** **2010 0800 Hours**

 **Rihga Royal Hotel, Koko's Suite, Tokyo, Japan**

That rather nervous feeling I had in the back of my mind was right again. Koko said she would brief us formally the next morning but the moment she said to break out the hardware, I already knew our next fun filled adventure was right around the corner. Complete with all of the smoke, fire, bullets, and blood you can handle. But the crew handled it the same indifferent way they always did, lounging about prepping for the fight as casually as possible.

"I find it funny that we're gonna look like a bunch of backpacking tourists with a few extra battle scars." Sophia said putting her ACR in her pack.

"Yeah and armed to the teeth!" Koko followed up.

"Eh. I don't know about that, people like us can't really blend in." I said loading my .45's.

"Well not all of us look like they're about to flex out of their shirt Damien." Lutz said trying to get a rise out of me.

"That's what the jacket's for."

"Alright you two settle down. Now it seems the SR Unit want's a meet up. Hinoki called Tojo late last night and wants to parlay. The location for the meet up is the parking area at Umihotaru later in the day. The pretext is to divide up Kasper's trading area but I think we all know that that ain't gonna happen. The SR Unit made it clear that talking was thrown out the window since they threw the first punch. So why are they leaving the shadows? Why are they moving covertly to kill my brother like Tojo anticipated? Our opponents have become erratic and hard to read so what's the SR Unit hoping to achieve? Well it won't do much to brood over and they left the bait for us so we have to take it. Since they don't really have a base of operations we have to take this chance and if we miss it then finding them again won't be easy. Let's move out!"

"Kaaay." Everyone said. Been a while since I heard it.

"I think I can answer half of each of those questions Koko." I said getting up off the floor.

"Really? What are your thoughts Damien?" She asked.

"We'll I can't read their minds on what they want. But I can simplify their plan in three simple words."

"And that is?"

"Dumb as fuck." I said extending one finger per word, causing the crew to burst out laughing.

 _All seriousness though, what the hell do they plan on gaining by making such a radical change in tactics?_

 **0954 Hours**

 **Gran Melia Hotel**

 **Jakarta, Indonesia**

While his sister would be dealing with Hinoki's group in Tokyo, Kasper was beginning the first phase of his plan to distract them in Jakarta. But after the phone call he received from his sister last night he now had to improvise. The sudden request for one of Hinoki's representatives to meet him in person and discuss setting up new and different trade routes surprised him as well. As he was waiting in his suite he was contemplating on why the SR Unit had suddenly changed their methods so quickly and radically.

"The SR Unit's member should be here in a few minutes." Chiquita said checking her watch.

Kasper was leaning forward in his seat with a look of concentration on his face. He knew that there was no way Hinoki and his men would take what he did so passively that they would just divide up the roots and act like what he did to their client's son as a misunderstanding.

"Kasper?" Chiquita said grabbing his shoulder to get his attention.

"I heard ya. It's just that the ghosts made themselves be seen. Why?"

Before Chiquita could say anything a knock came at their door. Poe opened it and who followed was a rather chipper Japanese woman in a yellow shirt, black skirt, and a briefcase in her left hand. Chiquita then took her position behind Kasper.

"Boss this is Miss Kurosaka the one that's supposed to see you." He said with a quick nod that she was clear.

"Ahh yes. Have seat, we were expecting you." He motioned to her and she sat in the leather chair opposite from him.

"Glad we could finally meet in person Mr. Hekmatyar."

"Alright let's get down to business. You said you wanted to discuss setting up trade routes for both of our companies?"

"Yes I do. This is only a preliminary draft and I know you want to make the final decisions with our director before you make any type of conclusion. I would however like to apologize for our company not sending a more worthy representative for our first meeting with you."

As she bowed her head Kasper just stared at her neutrally with his arm resting on the chair with his hand behind his head, but all the while listening to every word she said. He knew that she was just a honey pot to get him to try and lower his guard. Apparently the SR Unit had never considered the fact that he had the experience of working with two of the most dangerous women he'd ever met in his life. One of them was right behind him, the other was with his sister.

"If we are able to reach a compromise today, Mr. Hinoki would be more than welcome to meet with you in person to hammer out the final details as soon as possible."

"I would like that very much. I hope we both can start off on a better foot considering our first _encounter_ wasn't really the best."

"Well as an intelligence agency we must take a lot of precautions so I hope you understand that our rudeness is necessary for our safety."

Kasper then scratched the back of his head discreetly to let Chiquita know to be on her guard.

"That's alright with me, I don't care. So let's see this proposal."

"That's wonderful! In that case let's get right down to business."

As she then leaned over towards the briefcase, Chiquita caught a brief glimpse of Kurosaka's eyes. Falling back on her instincts and training she got in front of Kasper just as Kurosaka pulled from her belt what appeared to be an extremely thin but extremely sharp whip like blade. Knowing she couldn't block that with her bare hands she used the thick sole of her boot. As Kasper just sat there frozen in utter disbelief, Kurosaka prepared for a follow up. But not before Chiquita rushed forward using her height and experience to her advantage, kneeing the assassin in the face and following up with a roundhouse.

"Wake up sir you're spacing out." She said acting like it was any other work day.

She then walked over to the dazed assassin, cocked her sidearm, and put two rounds in her head.

"I think this means the SR Unit is moving against us." She said as the rest of the team bursted in the room with weapons drawn.

"Yeah I noticed! What in the actual hell!? God she was fast!" He said ecstatically while picking up the thin sword.

"Sorry sir. I was the one that frisked her. I had no idea." Edger said apologetically.

"Do you see this thing? It's awesome!" Kasper said as if he ignored anything he just said.

"Yeah and it was strong enough to cut through the sole of my boot. I think I like these guys." She said all the while with her lazy smile.

"Anyway, Poe how many of them are there?"

"No idea sir, much less even where they are. Orders?" He said as he was passing his team their P90's and backpacks.

"Hotel's too big to secure and someone would have heard those shot's by now. We're leaving. And not to mention I'm gonna have to deal with the police after this. God this sucks."

 _Tojo, you called this all wrong. We'll I'm not going to blame him though. I was caught with my pants down too. But this is kind of weird, the SR Unit HAD to know that we can handle crude assaults. What are they thinking?_

As Kasper's crew began to make their way out of the hotel the SR Unit was preparing to attack considering that they had failed in executing their surprise. Fully armed and ready they then went with their back up plan, moving up both sets of emergency stairs and ready to attack on Kasper's floor on two sides.

After collecting everything they needed for a quick getaway Kasper's team then led their boss out of the building. Poe and Edger covered Kasper while Allan and Chiquita moved ahead to make sure the hallways were clear. After making their next turn, Allan then heard the rattle of weapons clacking against equipment and motioned to Chiquita to halt. Hotel hallways were normally pretty quiet and since they were quieter than them, they caught them with their guard down. He slowly moved forward and when he saw the barrel of an assault rifle he opened fire, keeping them pinned so that Chiquita could advance. With her blade drawn and incredible speed despite her age the SR members didn't realize until it was too late that they were within her killzone.

She stabbed the front man in the neck and then grabbed him to use as a shield to make towards the next one. They may have worn the gear and had the weapons of a special ops team but they were far from the actual thing. As Chiquita then stabbed the next one in the head she quickly moved to her left and Allan appeared out of cover and lit up the remaining three.

"You good?" He asked as Chiquita pulled out her sidearm.

"I take back what I said earlier. These guys are too easy. I can't believe I'd actually miss fighting my little _mishka._ " She said double tapping the one's Allan shot.

He just looked at her with an eyebrow raised and then called back to the rest of his crew. "Let's keep moving!"

Poe and Edger then covered both sides of the hallway as Kasper then turned to where the dead SR members were. Along with Chiquita, her face splattered in blood and smile fixated on her face. If it was any other type of person here, they would have seen a total sociopath but Kasper knew that that wasn't the whole woman. He then looked toward the bodies.

"Playing soldier is tough work, but that's the only thing you're doing. Playing. And my soldiers are far better, cause they got more experience." He said as Poe and Edger began leading them away.

Chiquita then chuckled. "You're happy? Not the type of mood I'd expect from a guy under attack boss."

"Well I was hoping to fight these guys. But I would more likely want to fight the ones before them. The ones that fought in Vietnam, they fought with absolute grit. Those guys made a real empire in the underworld, but these guys are no different than any other group of thugs that have tried going up against us. It's kinda embarrassing. Hinoki needs to stop testing me and bring me a real fight."

Chiquita then looked at him somewhat surprised. "I'll be damned. How did you turn out like this Kasper? You used to be so cute when you were younger."

He then looked at her with a deadpanned stare but still smiling. "I'm only in the latter half of my twenties. And besides I don't need to figure out that you've already found someone a lot cuter."

"Damien is far different. He just looks that way, inside though he a completely different person. Plus it's fun to tease him." She said unfazed by him calling her out.

Suddenly more gunfire erupted from behind them. What remained of the SR Unit wasn't done yet. Chiquita pushed Kasper into a doorway while Poe and Edger returned fire.

"Oh no reinforcements." He said sarcastically.

 _Looks like this is what happens when a ghost exposes itself, how pathetic._

"Whatever. Just kill all of them." He said uncaring.

With that simple order, each member of Kasper's crew smirked sadistically. They now had an excuse to cut loose. No SR member left the hotel alive.

 **1100 Hours**

 **Highway 409, Kawasaki, Japan**

The plan was for Koko, Lutz, Mao, Ugo, and myself to meet up with the SR Unit at Umihotaru to discuss the parlay while Lehm, Wiley, and Sophia acted as our backup. While we knew that this meeting wasn't going to be a simple talk, the only thing we could plan on was to improvise and watch what happens. At least we were going into the fight prepared. But it was a quiet ride to wherever we were going, and a little boring. I leaned forward from my back seat and put my hand on Ugo's shoulder. I then held up my iPod and he knew the drill. Whatever was playing on the radio was immediately replaced by a rhythm and blues classic, Green Onions.

"Nice." He said tapping his finger on the steering wheel. "I thought you were a straight metal head."

"You kidding? I love the classics. James Brown, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, you can't be a true fan of music if you don't listen to the pioneers."

The mood in the car then became a bit more mellow. Lutz whistled to the tune softly, Mao had a smirk on his face even though he was half asleep, and Koko was slowly bopping her head. Tojo however was just looking out the window as if nothing happened. No doubt in his mind he was stressed that he was going up against the guys he not only used to work with but the starting point of how he began his career as an agent for the Japanese government to bodyguard for an arms dealer.

"Hey Tojo."

"Hmm?" He looked towards me.

"I know you didn't want to work for the SR Unit for the obvious reasons, but you could have used that as a springboard to go on and do better and maybe bigger things. Why'd you quit?"

"What? That came out of nowhere."

He then stared at me for a few moments a little puzzled. "Well?"

"Well I'll tell you why prefer working for Koko. Which answer do you wanna hear? Funny one? Or serious one?"

 _Why do I have a feeling it's gonna be the same answer._

"Serious one."

He then formed a massive shit eating grin. "Cause at this one I get to work with two smoking hot babes!"

 _Called it._

The whole car then let out a lot of restrained laughter. I just stared at him with my casual smirk, there was no way in hell he would have said that to Koko and Sophia in the same vicinity. Before I could counter though, Koko spoke from the front seat.

"Tojo. Your salary just doubled for this month."

"Really!? Awesome!" He said.

"Hmpf. I'll give you props for having the brass to be honest. And also that you worded that answer carefully."

"How'd I do that?" He asked with his head tilted.

I held my hand up next to my face as I was looking at him with a smirk. Then slowly closed it forming a fist, with a slight audible crack of knuckle. With almost perfect timing as we just then passed into a tunnel causing the inside of the SUV to darken.

"You _work_ with them, nothing else." I said with my classic deep growl and his grin instantly turned into a visual gulp.

"Damien…don't scare him to death. I need everyone for this op."

"Sorry Koko." I then relaxed in my seat and looked back towards Tojo. "You can tell me the real reason later bro."

He then smiled casually. "Right."

After a few more minutes we got out of the aqua tunnel. Umihotaru was in sight. Time for phase two.

"Let's park deeper inside Ugo, more cover."

"Roger that."

After we parked the car I checked my rifle and pistols one last time before we got out. Mao then handed us all our radio's and ear pieces. Tojo was on the phone trying to get a hold of Hinoki. And Lutz and Ugo we keeping a look out. A lot of civilian's came through here and anyone of them could have been an SR member. But the next part of the plan was riding on me, I was the one who had to make contact with the SR Unit. Naturally I was a little nervous but I've done kinds of things like this alone before. All I had to do was keep my head on a swivel.

"Still can't get a hold of Colonel Hinoki Koko." Tojo said.

"Keep trying. Alright we stick to the plan and this will all go smoothly. Damien, we're counting on you."

I then left the crew and then made my way to the elevators to the main level. If anything Umihotaru was a bit of a tourist trap, a bit of extra decoration on what really mattered which was the Aqua Line. The amount of people there made a somewhat dense crowd but as painful as this was to admit, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I kept my composure of just walking around without a care with my hands in my pockets but a big American with long hair and cold blue eyes wasn't really subtle. As I was walking up the stairs to the third floor to the restaurant I heard Koko's voice through my earpiece.

" _You reached the meeting point yet Damien?"_

"Walking towards the restaurant now."

" _Stay on guard. I got a bad feeling about this."_

As I entered the double doors I immediately scanned for the Colonel, no surprise he wasn't there. I then pressed my earpiece to get ahold of Koko.

"Koko, your hunch was right. No one's here, but I don't think this is the ambush point. Too many people."

" _Get back down to the garage now! Stay—"_ Before she could continue there was an electronic screech in my earpiece.

"Koko!? Koko!? Shit!"

I then sprinted out of the restaurant and then tried the alternative frequency but I just got more static. They knew we were here and they had to have had a jammer somewhere. This was unexpected, even for me. Knowing the radio was useless I then pulled out my cellphone. But as I was about to get to the second floor to dial in Koko's number I saw a man with a backwards ball cap at the bottom of the stairs looking right at me. The fight was about to begin and he caught me in a bit of a bottle neck. He then reached into the bag he was carrying and pulled out a MAC11 machine pistol. With a lack of options in a direction to move I pulled out one of my .45's and jumped over the side of the railing, both of us firing at once. I then landed on the floor below in a roll and looked for the nearest cover.

The eruption of automatic fire sent the patron's there into a panic. People were running away in any direction away from us. I had to get away from him or stop him from shooting so that he didn't hit anyone else. As I reloaded my pistol, I then took cover behind a support beam. Then came the shouting of orders in Japanese over the panicking crowd. I then peeked my head out to look and there were two more of them dressed in plain clothes coming towards me with machine pistols. I then dropped my backpack and pulled out my ACR, switching to single shot I quickly leaned out of cover and dispatched the first one with a well placed headshot. The other two returning fire and getting into cover. As they reloaded I then sprinted away from the support beam to get around and flank them. But there wasn't a lot of solid cover and they returned fire, shattering the glass windows of the shops I ran past until I dove behind a garden. I waited for them to reload and after they stopped I returned fire and double tapped one of them in the chest, but baseball cap wasn't with him. I then ducked back behind cover but I then heard a metallic click, he had flanked me.

But before he could fire I heard Tojo shout, he was rushing towards us with his pistol drawn. Ball cap then turned towards him and they both shot at each other at point blank range. Ball cap then fell to his knees.

"Ura…girimono." He said weakly before planting his face on the floor, blood pooling from him.

(Traitor.)

I then leaned up from cover and saw Tojo, clearly in a rage, and blood coming from his shoulder. He knew he'd been hit, but it looked like he didn't care. This had to be the first time I've seen him angry.

"Watashi wa uragirimonode wanai! Watashi o anata no norowareta-mono ni shinaide kudasai! Anata wa kurutta hidodesu!"

(I am not a traitor! Don't make me into your scapegoat! You're the ones that went crazy!)

Hopefully that had to be all of them cause we couldn't stick around here much longer. Someone had to have called the police already. I then leapt up and ran towards him, he was gripping his shoulder hard and the blood was spreading fast from his shirt.

"Jesus Christ man are you alright!?"

"I'll be fine just give me something to stop the bleeding." He said wincing.

I then ran towards one of the souvenir shops and grabbed two t-shirts from the racks. I didn't have any first aid supplies with me. After making quick work on putting pressure on the wound McGuyver style. We then bolted towards the parking garage elevators.

"Where's Koko is she alright?" I asked taping up his shoulder.

"I told her to get out of here the moment we lost contact with you. We'll steal a car and catch up to her and the rest."

As we got out of the elevator, people were starting to get as far away from Umihotaru as possible. We had to get something fast to catch up to Koko and the rest. Tojo then went to a guy that was about to pull out and take his car and shouted at him to stop. But upon closer inspection from my angle, a dull grey Japanese hatchback wasn't really going to cut it.

"Can you not get a better car than that!?" He then looked at me wonder why I was shouting at him. "Let that man go!"

"Our options are kind of limited Damien!" He shouted back as the hatchback sped off.

After a quick look around I then spotted something we could use. The man who was trying to get into was fumbling with his keys too much so this was our opportunity. Biggest advantage was speed, style was just icing on the cake.

"That's what I'm talking about." I said pointing to a red Nissan GT-R Coupe.

"Oh God." Tojo said following me.

We quickly made over to where the poor guy we were about to rob. I tapped his shoulder, he turned around, I punched him the face, and gravity took over. I then picked up his rather large set of keys and immediately spotted the ones for the car. I had to drive because Tojo was in no shape to do it. The engine revved to life and we peeled out of Umihotaru in hot pursuit of Koko.

We then got to the entrance of the Aqua Tunnel and I tried the radio again. All the while not letting my foot off the gas.

"Koko! It's me! You ok?"

" _Damien!? Are you alright!?"_

"I'm good but Tojo's been shot."

" _How bad!?"_

He then clicked on his radio. "I'll be fine. What's your 20?"

" _We got two of them on our tail. We're sticking to the plan and heading towards Kawasaki. But we caught word on the police scanner that they're setting up a barricade at the entrance of the tunnel. You'll have to evade."_

"Understood. Don't shoot at us when we catch up." He said taking my ACR out of my bag and loading it up.

"Ok hang on. Getting around these guys is gonna be rough."

I was starting to see daylight, as well as the blue lights of police cars. I then turned off the lights of the car, hoping they wouldn't see me until the last second. As I got as close as I could I floored it and swerved around the first car of the barricade. The second one thought then threw out a spike strip. Not really caring because it wasn't my car I made my way on to the shoulder and scrapping the side of the car on the retaining wall. We managed to get past the barricade and I floored it towards Kawasaki.

"GAH! Son of a bitch this hurts."

"Sorry man, I had to make those sharp swerves as best I could. If I could trade places with Ugo right now I would."

"It's alright I can still fight. You just drive." He then got out his cell phone. "You owe me an explanation Colonel."

As he was waiting on a response I was swerving around traffic looking for Ugo's car. After a few moments I saw them up ahead, I motioned to Tojo and he leaned out of his window to take aim. Using the sports car's rapid acceleration and speed we got alongside the rear attacking car quickly. The shooter standing up through the sun roof ducked back into his car and Tojo opened fire.

"Aw shit! Armored glass!" He shouted.

"Damn." I then pressed my earpiece. "Koko! Were no good back here! Got any more options!?"

" _Backup is already on the way. Take the Bay off ramp!"_

Tojo then sat back down in the car and I gunned it to catch up to Ugo. But then I heard the distinctive rotor sound of a helicopter. I looked in the cars side mirror and sure enough there was one and was keeping pace with the two attacking cars. Before I could question when Koko had the time to charter a civilian helicopter, automatic fire erupted from the side of the chopper lighting up the two enemy vics. They had to have heavier hitting rounds than we did because both of them started to swerve violently and one crashed into the retaining wall and the other rolled over on its side.

"Nice!"

" _And that is how you do it."_ Koko said over the radio.

"Another miracle you pull out of nowhere Koko. Who's our guardian angel up high?" I said pressing my earpiece.

" _You know it's us kid."_ Lehm said in his usual bored drawl.

"I know that I meant who's flying?"

After a few seconds a bit of a jager tone came on the net. _"You must be Damien. Keith Gordon, I fly for Koko every now and then."_

"Uhh I'm glad we beat them but can I get to a hospital sometime soon? Kinda got a bullet in my shoulder." Tojo interrupted.

As he was looking at me I then noticed that the phone in his hand had picked up and there was someone speaking Japanese on the other side.

"You also have a call in progress."

"What? Oh shit. Hinoki?"

" _Anata wa hito o Tojo ni yobu kimyona hoho ga arimasu. Watashi wa hangu appu shiyou to shite ita."_ Hinoki said with a hearty laugh at the end.

(You have a weird way of calling people Tojo. I was about to hang up.)

"Cut the shit Colonel! Where the hell are you!?" He shouted switching over to English.

" _Wow, your English is fantastic. You've learned quite a lot since you left. But anyway to answer your question, if I told you that, then it would defeat the whole purpose."_

"Purpose of what!? Your whole team is dead. What in the hell were you trying to accomplish here?"

There was a slight pause on the line. _"HCLI's firepower verses the SR Unit's prowess. There was only one way this could go and this is how both sides wanted it. I just granted their wish."_

Tojo and I then looked at each other and were most likely sharing the exact same thought.

 _What the fuck is he talking about?_

" _Come on Tojo, you know you wanted this fight too. But I think it will be more appropriate if I tell you this in person. I know your boss is already taking measures to find my location, so I'll help her out. I'll see you in a few days."_

There was a click on the other end. We'd have to worry about this shit later, Tojo needed to get to a doctor.

 **October 13** **th** **2010 0145 Hours**

 **Flight 3400 To Martinique**

Not long after Tojo was admitted into surgery to get the bullet out of his shoulder Koko was already making arrangements to track down Hinoki's location. I found it truly bizarre that he was willing to hand over that information so freely, it really didn't seem right. What the hell was Hinoki trying to pull?

The amount of thoughts that were running through my head really weren't allowing me to get to sleep. Even though I started sleeping better, doing it on planes was still taking some time to get adjusted to. Even with Sophia resting her head on my shoulder, letting out soft snores. I then took my pillow and lifted up her head to place it there while I stood up to use the bathroom. As I made my way back through the cabin I saw Tojo wide awake, he had to be thinking the same things I was.

"Shouldn't those painkillers you got help you sleep?" I asked getting his attention.

"I'm only taking less than what I should. Taking what they recommended makes my stomach upset."

I stared at him for a few more moments and remembered he owes me a story.

"You still didn't answer my question on why you quit. I know it was nothing like what I did but it would be nice to know anyway."

He then looked up to the roof of the cabin and back to me.

"It is good to open up every now and then."

 **12 Years Earlier**

 **May 20** **th** **1999 0400 Hours**

 **Cuba**

The storm rolled in almost immediately when the SR Unit had accomplished its objective, it would be the perfect cover to mask their escape. The waving palm trees and rolling waves combined with the wind and rain made quite the dramatic scene. The hit was done and all that was needed to be done was for the SR Unit to evacuate. Their escape vessel was just off the coast disguised as a cargo freighter but was under the flag of the Japanese government. Tojo had known that these types of covert ops were the riskiest and if you were caught it was over. But they had to make sure that they had the accountability for everyone, there were quite a few people short.

"Where are the Cuban operatives?" He shouted over the rain and wind.

The direction he was shouting was directly towards Colonel Hinoki but it was intercepted by some of the unit members sitting in their escape boat.

"Not our problem Tojo, we're waiting on Kurosaka. Then we leave." One of them said.

Just then a terrible thought came to his mind.

"You gave those agent's a false rendezvous point. If the Cuban Army catches them they'll all be shot!"

"Tojo! This is how it has to go down!"

He ignored him. "I want to hear it directly from you Colonel!"

His back was still turned to his protégé, but before he could say anything else Kurosaka tackled him from behind into the inflatable boat.

"Sorry I'm late, I'm the last one. Let's go!"

The engine sputtered to live and they opened their distance from the shoreline. Tojo then got up and put back on his glasses that she knocked off of him.

"You're ok with this crap too!?" He demanded.

Kurosaka then grabbed him by the collar. "Shut up and understand the situation. Leaving them removes a variable, distracts the enemy, allows us to escape. And what's the one thing we can't do on this mission? We can't leave any trace of Japanese presence here. It would not only jeopardize Japan but our units accomplishments as well.

 _So that means we leave our comrades that helped us to die!? Men that want to make a difference here!?_

He took her hand off his collar and sat down frustrated. He then looked towards his mentor and he was still facing forwards from the bow. As their freighter was getting closer he then started to realize that they didn't change anything here at all. All they did was shoot a couple of military officials and gave them the "evidence" so that this would wrap up as quick as it started. Castro would still be in power, the Communist flag would still fly, even the drug trade routes would still slip by unnoticed.

"Elite intelligence operatives is what we're supposed to be? God what a joke. All we did was infiltrate a third world nation, kill some of its military leadership, and leave. When the fuck did this unit turn into Omega? Or even Gorgon?"

There was silence around the boat but then eventually the ones with the bigger ego's spoke up first.

"Kid's gone soft on us."

"What do you expect? He came from Central System Admin, he's a geek with a gun."

"And before that electronic warfare, like they EVER get their hands dirty."

"Both of you! That's enough. He does have a right speak what he's thinking. And you all know that he earned that." Hinoki said piercing through the conversation.

Knowing that this wasn't what he had signed up for, Tojo then made a decision. The only problem was what he was going to do with the rest of his life since on paper he was legally "dead."

 _I'll have to wait till we get back to Jakarta. Can't do that here._

 **Present Time**

"I was actually kind of surprised that Hinoki accepted my resignation without any argument. He didn't even try to stop me."

"Well the downside to working in black ops means you don't really have any other option in choosing another career if you decide that this one doesn't work out." I said holding back my laughter.

"I know that. But walking around downtown Jakarta frustrated wasn't gonna help my situation, so I just took a walk and decided to get some noodles for lunch."

My guess was that he had to have been a mess until he finally came across HCLI. I wondered how long he was drifting around Indonesia for.

"How long was it until you joined up with HCLI?"

"When I ran into Kasper when I went to get the noodles."

Once again, my brain stopped. "What?"

"He sat down said "Yo!" and twenty minutes later I had a new job."

Now I had some real problems trying to turn the power back on. And I thought Koko pulled weird shit outta nowhere.

"Damien? You alright?" Tojo asked adjusting his glasses.

"I wandered around Pakistan for several months mostly surviving off of the gun runner I was working for until I finally scrapped up even enough money to even get place of my own to rest my head. How the fuck did you get a new job in that short amount of time?" I demanded.

"Well this might be a good textbook example of misreading the situation. The SR Unit though I was working with HCLI all along, but I think someone had a hand in me getting employed by HCLI."

 _Wait a minute, he can't mean Hinoki?_

"Now that I think about it, Kasper was only half right. A single man can change quite easily, we bend whichever way the wind blows. And I'm looking at the evidence right in front of me. You think the CIA were even remotely accurate in designating you as a nightmare?"

I smirked at him and let him continue.

"I'm only realizing this now. Hinoki was the best spy his country had ever had, he held a major hand in developing the DIH, he was as solid as a rock. But as soon as we had him cornered, he abandoned everyone and everything. Just to save himself."

That's why he sent his own team into the furnace that was the Hekmatyar siblings. Hinoki must have known that he pounced onto something that was clearly out of his league and didn't really have the options available to counter attack if we could sense out his invisible fists. But this would be something he would have to explain himself to get the clearest picture. And speaking of pictures, I never even dreamed that one day I'd be going there and I would get as many shots as I could. Plus the better change in temperature was very welcoming.

 **October 15** **th** **2010 1120 Hours**

 **Eleuthera Island, The Bahamas**

White sand beaches, warm sunny skies, bright blue sea. They are some of the many visual beauties that are scattered around the Caribbean Sea. When we first touched down in Nassau I had to get me one of those drinks in the coconuts. I could just eat the thing when I was done with everything else. Changing into a lighter set of clothes was good too but I wasn't going to be too touristy. I was never really much of a fan of Hawaiian shirts, and this wasn't Hawaii. But after doing a quick dive into the tourist thing, we went right back to the mission. One thing that a lot of people don't know is that there are a few places in the Caribbean that have some pretty solid tax haven's. Perfect place if you wanted to disappear.

"Kind of remind you of the James Bond movie Dr. No. doesn't it?"

Koko wasn't wrong about that, The Bahamas were an often filmed spot in the early 007 films. And I honestly always thought that spy's were never like what they were portrayed in the movies. That it was mostly just boring paperwork and listening to wire taps and not, well everything that I had gone through since I started working for Koko. God was I proven wrong on a colossal scale. Despite on how I wrecked my own life, it has turned into one hell of an adventure that most people would only dream about.

It was just me, Koko, and Tojo going to see Hinoki. She specifically told the rest of the crew to wait at the beach bungalow that we had rented until we were done. I felt a little uneasy walking along the beach, just cause the scenery was pretty didn't mean that anything bad could happen.

"So where is he?" Tojo asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a shark ate him." Koko said as she slapped Tojo on the shoulder. His injured shoulder.

"GAH! GODDAMNIT! Koko! I just had a bullet taken out of me!"

"You've probably got the only frowny face in all of paradise. Be proud of your accomplishments, we tracked down Japan's best spymaster."

"Yeah quit your bitching. I've been shot plenty of times, and you don't see me complaining." I said.

"Not all of us are 99.9% muscle you dumb jock." He sneered.

"A jock am I? Well then allow me to reinforce the stereotype you nerd." I said cracking my knuckles.

"Stop acting like you both are in high school. Or we leave the moment were done here!" She ordered while hitting us both in the head with her large hat.

"Sorry Koko." We apologized.

"Now I'll tell you what Tojo. When you see your old boss, I won't tell you how to react, this is totally up to you. But the consequences will be yours as well."

"Right. But I think that there's a good chance we've been dancing to the Colonel's tune this entire time."

We continued to walk along the beach with Tojo on point. Probably contemplating on what to say to his mentor, and this was just a guess but I had a feeling that it was gonna be blunt. Very blunt. I then realized why she wanted me to tag along, make sure Tojo didn't lose his cool. I was about to ask her if this was a good idea, but before I could say anything I heard running footsteps. A girl, probably no older than five or six, was running towards us in a yellow dress and a pink flower in her hair. Judging from her tanned bronze skin she had to have been a local. As she was running past us she tripped on a rock in the sand and fell face first on the beach. The three of us we a little perplexed but she got off the ground and not even upset.

"You didn't even cry. Good girl." Koko said.

"Uhh…Koko I don't think she speaks…"

"Why cry? That's what sad people do." She said cutting me off in an American form of English.

 _Ok?_

I then noticed the flower had fallen out of her hair. I then got down on one knee and dusted the sand off it to hand it back to her. She then took it with a slight bit of hesitation, so I lifted up my sunglasses to let her look me in the eye to let her know I wasn't some intimidating behemoth. But what she said next caught me a little off guard.

"Wow. You're really big for a girl."

I instantly heard the restrained laughter from Koko and Tojo. I did my best to ignore them and addressed her in one of my gentler tones.

"I'm not a girl sweetheart, I'm a boy."

She giggled. "You're so silly. Boy's don't have long hair."

"I do. And I'm not afraid of what anyone thinks of it." I said adjusting the flower in her hair.

After a few seconds she smiled and then lunged at me trying to hug me all the way around my large form. Then the dam bursted on Koko and she started laughing her ass off. Tojo looking at me how the hell I managed to do what I think I just did.

"Seriously!? What is it with you? They just flock to you! Don't even matter the age!"

"Don't ask me, I just handed her flower back."

We then heard laughter from an old man behind us. A rather tall Japanese man about Lehm's age with a crew cut and dressed like he was on vacation here. No doubt in my mind it was Yoske Hinoki.

"I was wondering how you found me Tojo. My God it's been forever, you actually look great. When was the last time we actually spoke face to face was it Cuba or when we returned to Indonesia?"

"Please Colonel you remembered every hour, minute, and second of that op." Tojo said.

Hinoki then looked to Koko as she approached him. He bowed with the respect of a normal Japanese man of his age.

"Koko Hekmatyar, pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm former Colonel Yoske Hinoki and former SR Unit director. I like to formally apologize for my subordinates behavior, it seems as though that they were too proud to negotiate with you. I hope that they didn't cause any type of permanent damage."

"The pleasure is all mine Colonel Hinoki. Tojo got shot and my driver wasn't too thrilled about his car getting lit up but other than that the damage is minimal. Now I know you both have some catching up to do so I'll leave you both to it. Come on Damien! Let's get some sea shells!"

Before I could walk off I felt a tug on my shorts. "Can I come too?"

I looked to Koko and she nodded. I then looked back to Tojo. "We won't be far but show him how good your English has gotten since you left his unit."

He got the point on what I was implying. Koko wanted to be sure that there wasn't any type of underlying statement in what they were about to discuss. I took the little girls hand and we made our way to the tide trying to find any unbroken shells or rare ones.

"I thought she would have said a lot more to you considering that you threw the first punch." Tojo said.

 _I was thinking the same thing._

"Your boss is practical. All she sees is the bottom line. I could have dragged this out but then attacking you both at the same time would have ended this as fast as possible. I hope Kasper called to thank you though. You couldn't really hide a type of incident like this so how did the news handle it?"

Tojo then scoffed before he straightened himself up. "I was a little busy getting a bullet out of me and fleeing Japan when the story hit. They played it down a lot and came up with some type of lame excuse that a bunch of junkies went on a joyride."

"And in the process the bodies of some JSDF officers appeared to have died twice. Same thing happened in Jakarta. Even the biggest muckraker would know better than letting the real story get out."

"The whole SR Unit gone in one day. When Kasper called he was so happy I thought he'd gone crazy. I really misjudged you, this went the total opposite of everything I thought you would do. So I want to know the truth. Why did you sell them out?"

Koko and I may have been collecting the shells with the girl but we were listening in on every word. That was what we wanted to know.

"I didn't. They were never happy as ghosts. They wanted a fight so I gave them one."

 _Against a group that frankly outclassed them._

"And by giving them the weapons trade routes you just helped Kasper expand his reach."

Hinoki then let out a deep sigh. "If I have one true regret is that I couldn't stop the unit from evolving. The SR Unit thrived on selling weapons. But it changed not only our goals but my men as well and not in the way I wanted. Hmm…makes me wonder how your unit is gonna hold out."

Koko may have had her usual carefree smirk but I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her. I knew for a fact she didn't want what she built to become like the SR Unit.

"Just think of the old proverb. The bird makes a clean break as it fly's away. That you shouldn't cause trouble on your way out. But reality can be quite the opposite, a bird that leaves it's flock is often seen as a traitor by the other's that can't comprehend why he did such a thing. While those that can't fly away will envy him."

It seems that no matter where I go, I'm constantly reminded in some way or form of how I started out this way and ended up in Koko's company. I doubt anyone would envy me, everyone who ever truly knew me would see me as a traitor and nothing else. As I then went to pick up another shell, Koko took my hand and squeezed it tightly. She heard what he said as well, and she knew what I was thinking.

"You know I honestly thought that you were come crying back to me begging for your job back but I was wrong. I find it ironic that even with everyone in the unit combined you have the most experience walking through the battlefields of actual wars. It was why everyone in the unit was jealous of you Akihito. You wanted to fly away and you did."

 _Why do I have this feeling that you gave him the directions to fly to?_

"Well I think that's enough for now, I think it's time I head home. You know when I heard that you found me I was considering moving but I don't think I see any problem with that anymore. Visit again whenever you have time, the rum is on me." He said ending with a hearty chuckle.

"Yeah sure I'll do that." Tojo said sarcastically.

"Mana! Time to go!"

The little girl we were picking up shells with looked to Hinoki "Ok daddy!"

"Whoa hold up! That's your dad?" I asked her.

"Yep! Thank you for finding all the seashells with me." She then gave me one last hug before running off to her dad.

 _Ok what the hell?_

"You said something about a sham marriage?" I whispered in Tojo's ear.

"Why are you asking me this? I didn't know." He whispered back.

"Darling! Mana! Lunch is ready! Oh! Do we have guests?" A woman said from a path leading from the beach.

"No just saying hello to a few friends." Hinoki said looking at the three of us with a big grin. Tojo returning one.

We then went our separate ways, looked like our job was done. But just before we put some distance between us, the spymaster had one more thing to say to his best student.

"Tojo, I have no doubt in my mind that you'll be back one day. When you do I'll teach you everything I know. I'll make you a world class spy."

"I told you Colonel, I'm not like you."

"Nonsense, of course you are. Every good spook thinks five years in advance. There's a reason why you're the only one left from the SR Unit. Be seeing you!"

And he left with his child to his wife.

 **2300 Hours**

Our mission against the SR Unit had come to an end and we had a few days to spend in tropical paradise. The rest of the day was quiet, I got to work on my tan, we dined on the local shrimp, I even bought a box of Cuban cigars. It was a quiet night in the bungalow, some of them were asleep and the rest of us were just lounging around. But I don't think that Koko had forgotten about what Hinoki said to Tojo earlier in the day. She was pounding the rum a little bit more than the rest of us.

"Tojo I promise that you'll be working for me for years to come."

I could tell that that would be my cue to get as far away from the patio as possible. I grabbed one of my new Cuban's and bit the tip off.

"What? Don't tell me you took his ramblings seriously Koko?"

She then turned around to look at him, face flushed with a pompous pout.

"Aki baby, you're on your own." I said lighting the cigar up, I grabbed my rum, and calmly left the porch as she started her barrage on poor Tojo.

"YOU'RE MY BITCH TOJO! GOT IT!"

"OW! Again with the shoulder!"

"SAY IT!"

"OK! I'M YOUR BITCH!"

"YOU BETTER MEAN IT!"

As I left him to his fate I paused at the bottom step before I stepped onto the beach. It was a better idea to walk around barefoot, or else I would have had to dig the sand out of my boots later. As I got further away from Koko's shouting and her wailing on Tojo's shoulder the noise was drowned out by the waves. There wasn't a lot of places to sit so I just picked the nearest large rock and leaned back on it. It was another beautiful night in the world where I had been traveling with an arms dealer. Full moon, clear starry sky's, the scent of the sea, and the mellow flavor of tobacco with the bite of rum, I was in paradise.

Only then I realized I was in a paradise that wasn't too far from home. The bungalow was on the west side of the island, just travel in a straight line and you hit Miami, Florida. Since I "flew away" I have literally traveled around the entire world now and there's still one place I can never truly fly back to. The pain was still there, but this time it didn't hurt as much. Because I wasn't alone anymore.

"You know you're not supposed to wander off by yourself."

I turned around to see Sophia, dressed in a little bit less because we jumped from mid-Fall to Summer so quickly.

"You're not my babysitter." I said taking a swig of rum.

"Well for as much trouble as I keep you out of I might as well be."

I then took another puff of my Cuban. "Wanna sit down and enjoy the view?"

"Only if you put that out first."

I looked at my cigar and then back to her a few times, the decision was obvious.

"Nope."

I wasn't as merciful as Lehm was, I finished whatever I started. But my choice probably wasn't the best as she then snatched it out of my mouth and threw it into the ocean.

"Hey what the hell!? That was—OOOF!"

She then sat down on my gut first causing me to drop my drink. She then slid down to the sand leaning back on me, sitting in between my legs. When the lady wants to make a point she makes it.

"Well now that you've ruined my drink as well are you happy?" I asked dryly.

"Yep."

Rolling my eyes and practically giving up at that point I wrapped my hands around her waist and got comfortable. We sat there for a while just looking at the sea, it's the simple things in life you treasure.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

After thinking for a few seconds I answered what was on my mind for a while. "Home."

She then wrapped her hands around mine. "You know it's not like that you don't have one anymore."

"I know it's just...I can't help but want to let my family know I'm just fine and that they don't need to worry about me. But if I tell them, they'll find out eventually what really happened to me and it'll break their hearts."

I then started to hold her tighter, she tightened her grip on my hands as well.

"I won't lie and say that I know how you feel, but I've rarely spoken to my family too. Hell my father thinks I'm just a secretary doing a lot of overseas traveling for HCLI. He doesn't know what I really do."

"Well how do you handle it?"

She sighed. "You don't, it's always there. But the fun of working for Koko makes it easy. And…being around you makes it even easier."

"Hmpf. What happened to that girl who wanted an excuse to rip me apart every day?"

"Oh she's still here, and I can do more than that." She said seductively.

She then took my hands and then started to move them up to her breasts. Then she lifted her arms up and wrapped them around my head. It was obvious what she wanted and it had been a while. I gently started to massage them and she began breathing deeply. She then slid down from my chest and pulled my head down to kiss her. Lengthy, passionate, and sensual. As painful as this is to admit, when a woman you care about makes herself that open to you, your brain totally shuts down. But as romantic as this scene was about to become, this wasn't the place for it. I took my lips off her's and then stood up.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Not here. Let's head back to our room." I said taking her hand and pulling her up.

"There was a reason why I wanted the two of us to be alone. Those walls aren't very thick."

"Well we'll have to be as quiet as possible."

"That's not very passionate you know."

"Well it's either that or some rashes from friction and digging sand out of your ass. Which do you prefer?"

It dawned on her instantly and then looked away rather embarrassed, but suppressing her laughter. I then held out my arm and she looped her's around mine and we walked back towards the bungalow. As I looked straight into her gold eye I couldn't help but feel a sense of completion. My life was changing for the better every day, despite the gunfights and explosions. And tonight was going to be another one of pleasure with her.

 _James Bond, eat your heart out._


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36: The Two Generations**

 **November 3** **rd** **2010 0630 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Fruition**_ **, The Red Sea, Saudi Territorial Waters**

It had been a few weeks since our little trip to Japan and our quick stay in the Bahama's. Once again, we got a bit of a reprieve from the more stressful applications of our work and returned to normal deliveries. We linked up with the _Fruition_ in Italy and then began another lengthy voyage to parts unknown. Our cargo hold was a bit more full than usual, looked like more orders had come in and there was too much to take across land or fly by plane. So we all took the time we had to adjust or catch up with the normal things in our personal lives. Living on a ship, while limited in going places, had its perks when you needed time to yourself.

Or in the case of me and Sophia it was more time for us to bond. We had both come a long way from me not really caring about the crew in the least when Kasper sent me to Koko, to Sophia wanting an excuse to gut me open based on either principle or thinking I was Koko's new favorite. But speaking of her, it looked like she still didn't want to give up on winning over my affection even after I turned her down before we got ambushed in Budapest. But I think I kind of unintentionally rekindled that spark with that kiss I gave her and it continued to steadily grow. I was only thinking of making sure that she got away because Hex was after me not her. I made a judgment call, a short term one, and I didn't think about the long term consequences. Every now and then when Sophia wasn't around she would lean on me a little more than usual, hold my hands tighter, or charm me with a little more than her usual charisma. The scary thing was that it was working a little bit, and as much as it seems like some of the crew peg me as a total ladies man they couldn't be more wrong. Until I started opening up more when I landed with Koko I was always stand offish. I simply acknowledged that someone was there and that was it, nothing more. But after the many exciting events of the year, I've begun to connect with others in a way I had never done before. True bonds based on comradeship, sacrifice, and blood. But it was only with Sophia in which I formed it on an intimate level with her and I wanted to maintain it. As much as I care about Koko I can't run the risk of ruining the greatest thing she's ever done for me, giving me my life back. She's stunningly beautiful, amazingly funny, highly intelligent, and fiercely brave despite the extremely dangerous hazards of being an arms dealer. But Sophia and I connected on a deeper level, something we formed on our trip through Africa on our hunt for Chan. We both fought together against odds that were clearly not in our favor, we both almost died trying to save each other, and we both found comfort in each other once the storm had passed. And also for an honorable mention we both felt like we were about to shit ourselves once we got back to Koko to face her wrath of us running off without saying anything.

Suffice it to say that I had a lot going through my head this morning when I finally decided to open my eyes. For some strange reason I think about so much random stuff when I wake up I don't really want to get out of bed until I either have enough focus or I want to. But coffee can also be a big motivator, especially since you don't need to walk all the way to the galley to brew some for the morning when you have a brewer in your cabin. As I leaned up and sat on the side of the bed I paused before standing up to turn to her. She was still sleeping soundly facing the wall of the cabin along with a bit of a quiet snore. With wearing nothing up top I saw that even though that her tattoo managed to get fixed pretty well from where she got shot, the scars from the bullets and surgery were still visible only if you got close enough. It took me a while but I finally figured out what it meant, "Hakkaa Paalle", or "Cut Them Down" in Finnish. A term that was originated by Finnish cavalry when they were still under the Kingdom of Sweden during the Thirty Years War. One of the bloodiest religious wars in history between the Catholics and Protestants. The hand that held the saber represented the cavalry and the crucifix and wings were a representation of the Protestant faith. Kind of strange though that she would choose that since she didn't really practice any kind of faith, but then again I only talk to God if I have to. I then gently stroked her hair once before standing up, I put on my shorts, walked over to my laptop and let it boot up while I poured myself a mug.

Before I logged in to make sure I got paid a few days ago I noticed that my camera wasn't in its drawer, I didn't upload my pictures from the Bahama's yet. I would do that after I was done with checking my Swiss accounts. While the Swiss did well in protecting the privacy of a client, I was hearing some rumors that they were starting to turn away from American's setting up accounts with them because of the US Justice Department wanting to find the financial flow of money from criminal organizations to those that done their business practices in some legally questionable means. So it was actually a good thing that when I began to sign up for one I used a the fake identity of a British businessman. I punched in my passwords and the number was what I expected it to be, an eight-figure total. With being on move so much and constantly working I only spent what was necessary like travel, lodging and food. Only times I actually cranked out large amounts was when I would by a gun or a piece of gear and in all reality, it didn't really make much of a dent in my wallet. The only time I really saved up was when I had to get a bunch of forged ID's to get out of Pakistan and after I left Turkey it grew to where I had so much that any normal man my age wouldn't know what to do with it. While I was anything but normal, it was in the literal sense that I did not know what to do with this much money at my disposal. But one thing that struck me as odd was that I was paid more than what I should have this month, about $100,000 more. My thoughts then led back to one person, Koko.

"No surprise." I said as I took my first sip of coffee.

"What's not a surprise?" Sophia said wrapping her arms around my neck from behind. Still not wearing anything up to from what I could feel against my bare skin.

"That short of buying an island, a New York penthouse, or Saddam Hussein's super yacht I don't think I'm ever gonna get rid of what I got except for giving it all away or burning it."

As I lied to throw her off of what I was really thinking Sophia looked towards the screen and her eye widened in awe.

"How did you get that much money?" She asked somewhat concerned.

"Being constantly on the move while working didn't really give me much time to go spend any of it. You've seen what I own, I only had like two or three outfits besides my tactical gear when I first joined up with you guys. Everything else in some way or another was connected with the job."

She then looked and me and smirked. "Well now you don't have to worry about that anymore."

I smirked back and handed her my mug, she needed the coffee just as bad as I did. I then closed out my account and plugged my camera in to load up my pictures.

But in my half-asleep state I forgot that there were a few pictures I didn't really want her to see. They were the candid ones I took of her when she wasn't looking. We both saw the first one at the same time so I couldn't really play it off.

"There a reason why you have this one of me?" She said pointing at the screen with her other arm around my neck getting tight.

It was actually a nice one. She had just gotten out of the water and walked onto a large rock next to the shore under a few palm trees. Slightly turned away as if she was walking away from me but her tattoo and her good eye were facing in the direction of the camera as she was moving her wet hair behind her ear. I had no way out of this one so I dove into my sarcastic side, it was a fifty fifty chance on whether the outcome would be good or bad.

"I was thinking of sending this to Sports Illustrated. See if this would make the cover page for the swimsuit issue."

Three tense seconds passed.

"Hmm. I figured you would have said either Playboy or Penthouse."

 _Bullet dodged._

"Now that would be too easy."

She didn't however loosen her grip on me but thankfully my phone started to buzz. On it was a text from Koko, but as I read what it stated my heart stopped. I then set it back down on my desk gently and took a deep breath.

"Everything ok?" She asked.

"No." I said honestly and then looked to her. "She said she'd let me know first but it looks like it's both of us. And it's kinda funny that I would mention Saddam. Guess where we're heading to next."

 **November 8** **th** **2010 0900 Hours**

 **Kuwait City, Kuwait**

The sun. The burning, suffocating, excruciating sun. Even as I was in the shade of a shipping container it didn't help in the least from the environment of one of the hottest countries on Earth. Normally around this time of the year Kuwait's long summer ends but today it looked like it wanted one last opportunity to roast its new guests. The nights would not really fair much better either because as it approaches the winter months, on average it would plummet to even below freezing. Frying and freezing at the same time seems to be God's way of coming up with a third category of temperature.

As the last of the containers were loaded up onto the semi-trucks I noticed that my sunglasses were starting to fog up from my sweat again. Since my Under Armor shirt was no good cause it was nearly soaked in sweat I took out a black balaclava from my cargo pants to wipe them off. It wasn't much of a disguise but considering where we were going I could not take the chance that someone would get a candid shot of me. Granted regular US military forces wouldn't be that clued in on who I was, but the CIA still had a presence in the new and twisted version of the Wild West that Iraq had devolved into. Just because this 'Bookman' guy had decided to look the other way it he, or the rest of the CIA, wouldn't do it again if they had a lead on me. I was still partially responsible for the slaughter of a SAD unit and I executed one of their agents. They had to have known that Hex was dead by now and they wouldn't give up the hunt just yet. The weird thing though was why were they so interested in Koko that they would give up an opportunity to make an easy bag and tag. As I was keeping an eye out on her while she was hammering out the final details to the harbor master, I saw a bottle of water come flying in my direction. I caught it by instinct.

"Not having you fall out because of a heat stroke kid, drink up." Lehm said, cigarette in his mouth as usual.

"Smoking ain't that much better either old man." I said as I saw Koko give the rallying signal to us.

The rest of us weren't baring much better from the heat either as we approached her with our gear in tow. Karl and Sophia seemed to be at their limits because of them being so used to European cold climates. Mao was even having trouble despite the fact of him being from Laos where it's always this hot. But weather or no weather we had a delivery to make, and this one was a little different from our usual rounds. As Koko would be giving the final brief before we moved out.

"Ok guys I'll make this short and sweet so we can get into the trucks and turn the air conditioning on all the way to below zero."

 _Ugh. We might get that anyway the moment the sun goes down._

She then took a chug from her own quart of water and wiped the sweat off her forehead before starting.

"As you all know at least every once and a while we gotta uphold HCLI's public image by doing a bit of humanitarian work. And this time unlike our little trip to Serbia this one has been properly planned out. We'll be travelling by ourselves until we hit the border at Safwan where we'll hook up with our escort. From there on in until we leave Iraq we'll be armed 24/7. We'll then resupply and refuel at Basrah and from there it's a straight shot all the way to Nasiriyah. It's no secret that the US has had it rough these last few years on trying to make that cesspit into a country and they're still failing gloriously. But they'll have our routes cleared out by the time we get there, that doesn't mean that we won't be under threat. Our job has nothing to do with politics, it's just to get the materials needed for a school where it needs to go. If you have any questions make it quick, we've been on the clock the moment we put into port."

Ugo raised his hand and spoke quickly. "What do you mean 'escort' boss? You got us."

"I'm afraid I don't have a choice this time. There's too many vehicles and not enough personnel to cover all of them. We're gonna need some help this time. It was a little short notice so I placed a call into a British PMC two days before we made port. Their company name is called Excalibur. If anything else we'll talk about it on the radio once were on the road. Let's move out!"

"Kaaaay." We all said.

I had always known that one way or another that I would eventually wind up in Iraq one day, I was kinda hoping that I'd do it while still in uniform though. But considering how it had turned out, I'm awfully glad I hadn't. I felt funny though that I would be going to same place my dad was twice, his first time when he was a Sergeant nineteen years ago and his second when he was a Lieutenant Colonel seven years ago. When he called me that he had to go for another tour, not too long after he got his first star, as an advisory role when I was still in West Point I could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn't too pleased. Not because of him getting back into the field, but because they needed men to fix the problem of why peace and rebuilding had instead become IED's and chaos. I couldn't blame him, you didn't need be a soldier to tell how tactically, strategically, and even politically stupid it was to go into the same country twice in the span of little more than a decade. And considering the direction of which we were going, it was gonna be on a piece of history as well. One where it was a rather bloody and indiscriminate turkey shoot.

 **1116 Hours**

 **Highway 80, Seven Miles till the Iraqi Border**

There comes a time for every career military man or woman where they have to explain to their child, if they have any, what it is they really do and what is war. There are a hundred different answers for that but they stem from the two things that is the sole purpose of any nations military, kill people and break things. However before dad could do this, I sort of caught my first glimpse of it on CNN when I was only five. It was covering the story of the initial start of Operation: Desert Storm with the green night vision cameras of the anti-aircraft fire over Baghdad. At the time we had lived at Ft. Bragg and dad had now become _Airborne_ Infantry and was part of the 82nd. I was watching it with my mother and I never forgot the look she had, fear. Fear that dad wouldn't come back and that he was heading into a fight that would seem like Vietnam all over again or maybe even Korea. Granted any normal military spouse would do this and it was my dad's first combat deployment as when he arrived with the 82nd he didn't go with them to Panama because we had just gotten to Bragg.

Fast forward a few years later and even though my mom managed to figure it out a little later than my dad did she was kinda embarrassed that she might have over reacted considering the Coalition, or rather the US in general, had turned what was the fourth largest army in the world at the time into a pile of scrap and charred skeletons. The overwhelming technological superiority of the US and its allies utterly annihilated Saddam's army. So much to the point where the regular infantryman didn't do much of the fighting. From what dad told me he essentially just guarded 3rd Armored's flank and took prisoner a lot of very willingly surrendering Iraqi's. He didn't even parachute into Iraq, they got there by truck. The tanks and the Air Force were the real hammer and fist of the fight from 17 January to February 28 of 1991. Knowing they had no chance the Iraqi's hauled ass out of Kuwait faster than they went in, but not without leaving a mess in their wake. They leaked massive amounts of oil into the Persian Gulf, set the wells on fire, and looted out whatever they could from Kuwait City. But in their rush to get out of Kuwait they didn't take into account that the fighting was still going on and didn't even cover their retreat. The US spotted a big undefended enemy convoy along Highway 80, next thing you know every Air Force, Navy, and Marine fighter pilot wanted a chance to chew it up. The aftermath was devastating as a whole highway was strung with destroyed vehicles along with thousands dead. This was what I saw by myself on the latest out of Iraq while my mom was making dinner, it was known as the Highway of Death. Children have different reactions to things they've never seen, experienced, or felt before and mine was, a trait that is part of who I am to this day, curiosity. Why were there so many burned cars, trucks, and tanks on this road? What caused it? Why were there so many people out there? Where did they all go? How much longer will dad be gone? I got my answer to one of those questions a few days later because after this and the tank battle at Medina Ridge the ceasefire occurred. I was too young to understand at the time but knowing what was going on in Iraq today I understood dad's, and many other returning soldiers, apparent frustration on when they came home. The US and the UN to some extent didn't want the main area that supplied the world's oil be under the thumb of an unstable megalomaniac. They killed all those people and left Iraq in even greater shambles with the sanctions that followed just to save a fucking nickel on a gallon of gas.

Now I was heading into a much more polar and twisted version of it, and this one was much more archaic. I was on a bit more of an edge than the rest of the crew but at least they knew why and didn't ask. We were going there to do a delivery and then leave with the least amount of stress possible. None of us wanted to be involved the mess that Iraq had dissolved into. Even with the US government saying that they have an appropriate plan for proper troop withdrawals it's just fancy wording for cutting their losses. At least until the worlds precious black gold is threatened again. We had passed by the last of the fields on our way up and I was still looking back from the passenger side of the truck I was riding in with Wiley. We were on point for the convoy until we crossed the border.

"You see something?" He asked.

I still kept my eyes on the last flame burst from one of the wells, a little reminder from the devil that what man was taking was from the underworld. I then drifted back to reality as he got my attention.

"Hey! You ok Damien?"

"I'm fine. It's just hard to realize that twenty years ago this very highway was coated in burning flesh and metal. All because of that shit they're pumping out of the sand. Now it's just that to an extent and tribal blood feuds."

Most of the crew just had a bit of a passive annoyance whenever I sometimes bitched about past problems in world events that no one has a solution for. Lehm and Wiley kept their focus straight and paid attention but that was common for special forces like them and myself. Lehm only listened sometimes, it was in his nature to be a bit lazy. Wiley however had a calmer, cooler, collectiveness than all of us, even Koko. He and I had a lot of good intellectual and introspective discussions on many things and it wasn't my fascination with history. It also included literature, sports, culinary arts and everyone's favorite subject alcohol. He knew I didn't talk about stupid shit and our conversations normally had meaning until we got bored.

"You know when most of us were coming home from the Gulf War we knew that this wouldn't be the end of it. It _was_ gonna get worse."

"History proved you guys right." I scoffed. "Common sense really isn't the strong point of ANY government."

"It's why those in this line of work never involve themselves with politics. It turns good friends into horrible enemies and it even works the other way around. And I never want to do that with John. He and I have a lot of great memories together, both good and bad. He's also the reason why I decided to why I joined up with Delta Force and with Koko."

"Wish I could say the same." I then looked in the distance. "Oop, heads up."

The border was coming up and was well secured from the looks of it. On both sides were an HQ building with guards quarters with both sides separated with barbed wire. With a combination of Kuwaiti's with armored Humvees on one side and a mix of Iraqi's and American's on the other with MRAP's. The haze wasn't too bad today so I could see the outskirts of the city of Safwan where our temporary partners were gonna meet us. I then got on my radio.

"Koko we got the border coming up."

" _Copy that Damien. Everyone get your passes out and don't load your guns until we cross. I'll make a call to Excalibur's chief."_

The convoy then stopped as Wiley and I stopped at the marker and shut off the engine. Then after a brief exchange of Arabic between me and the Sergeant at the post, they then went to inspect the convoy. While we were sitting there I strapped on my vest, put on my balaclava, and strapped on my helmet. Like with our convoy back in the Caucasus' I was once again the only one that was naturally prepared for anything. Everyone else just had their weapons and carrying vests for their ammo. I've seen my fair share of mercs that think they're bad asses but reality, along with bullets and shrapnel, tend to prove them wrong. But then again, a mercenary doesn't always follow rules and I'm not one to prove that I'm any better. I've had my fair share of fire fights where the only thing stopping the rounds was either solid cover or sheer dumb luck.

"I get the mask, but you know all that stuff you carry weighs you down. We're not intentionally going into a fight." Wiley said as he loaded a mag into his ACR and not chambering a round.

This was one of those conversations I hated.

"Listen. I know you guys have been in this game longer than I have. I also know that we're not in our militaries anymore. But I'm VERY opposed to people putting holes in me." I said as I tapped on the spot on my chest where I was hit recently.

"It's also about HCLI's image. We're suppose to just protect Koko and looking like that makes people think you're there to start something. And Iraq has enough of that."

"Well I've never tried to impress anyone." I then put on my ballistic shades. "I just want to keep myself and you guys alive."

He smirked at the now faceless me and then looked ahead. "Hey there's a few guys waving us down on the other side. Must be Excalibur."

I looked ahead and I saw three men each in plate carriers but only two were armed with customized AK-47's. The one with the naked vest must have been their interpreter but the other two had looks of contempt. One had a type of tribal marked sleeve on his right arm with a goatee and the other one was a little hard realize first so I took of my shades to take a clearer look. His, definitely not natural, blonde hair along with gold chains, bright white shirt, and purple Oakley's made him look like he was off of a movie set instead of being in warzone. I also noticed some of the American troops looking at them with disgust, even the NCO that was apparently going to check us again once we crossed. It was no secret that there was a lot of hate for the private contractors in Iraq. They were pretty much free to do whatever the fuck they wanted.

"Oh God." I then put my shades back on and opened the door. "I'll see if it's them."

I jumped out of the truck and let my ACR simply hang in front of me. I then walked with authority towards the borderline, not crossing it, to let them know we were here. I heard a cockney British accent from the one in the center.

"Oi! You guys from HCLI? We've been waiting here for fucking three hours!"

 _Well fuck you too asshole._

I let it roll off my shoulder and answered if he had asked normally.

"We are. Nine personnel, eight trucks full of construction material, final destination is Nasiriyah."

As I finished giving him the quick brief I noticed that the movie star was looking at me with an eager grin. He then leaned closer to the one in the center but I could still hear him.

"Hey boss. You see this big bloke? It looks like he's outfitted for a war. Think this might be our lucky break?"

I answered with my arms crossed before his boss could say anything.

"Sorry to break it to you but were delivering materials to build a school so unless someone starts shooting at us well…leave it to the grown-ups and you girls will be back to get your mani-pedi's before you know it."

Any American or those that understood English bursted out laughing and there were also some restrained snicker's from their interpreter and the senior American NCO on the Iraqi side. The Brits though were burning a hole through my head.

"Listen big man you're lucky you're paying us a decent amount or else we'd leave ya to cross the fucking desert by yourselves." He said pointing at me.

"Which is why I'm expecting you second rate PMC's to behave a little more than your very poor first impression."

I smirked under my balaclava as I heard the carefree professional voice of the heiress to a multibillion dollar arms trading empire behind me. That also surprisingly managed to sneak up on me. I stepped to the side so that they could see her, the bewilderment that appears on peoples faces to see that a twenty something girl was in charge of a crew like us never got old.

"So Mr. Turner whenever you're done being the butt of one of my subordinates jokes," She then put her hand on my left arm. "Go and get your vehicles and wait for us so we can move out in proper convoy formation."

I then looked back towards the two, very defeated, Brits.

"I suggest you do what the little lady says. Now."

As the newly named Turner and his partner stormed off I saw that their interpreter was still pleasantly smiling. He must have not liked who he worked for very much either and was glad someone showed them what's what. The Kuwaiti sergeant then spoke to Koko that they were clear to let the trucks and us pass. All that was left was to speak to the American sergeant on the other side to let him know our business and we'd be on our way. Koko motioned her hand signal to Wiley to move out and as the convoy moved ahead we walked across the border and shook hand with the NCO in charge. The tag on his vest said "Stewart" as he shook Koko's hand.

"Glad you guys came when you did. Those Excalibur assholes were pissing off everybody." He said in a rather deep southern tone. Then again a lot of southern boys make up the Army.

"We'll were not like them sergeant, I'm just a merchant making a delivery and those that are with me are my personal bodyguards." She said as he handed him the forms.

"We don't wanna be in this sandbox anymore than we need to. We'll zonk the moment we done. Hooah?"

He understood the jargon as he raised is eyebrow looking at my hair coming out from under my balaclava.

"Hooah." He said smiling as he thumbed in the direction to go. Koko then got on her radio.

"Alright everyone synch your radios so that we're all on the same channel. Valmet and Lutz, stick with me when we roll out."

" _Got it Koko."_ Sophia.

" _Roger."_ Lutz.

"Damien, you're with Lehm. You'll be with him in the third truck in front of the first escort vehicle."

"Got it."

As we then walked to the convoy, she quietly whispered to me.

"Are you holding up alright?" She asked me knowing what she meant.

"I'm ok. They're not the same guys and no bad memories are coming up." I said while looking around at the US troops going about their various duties.

"Then take off that mask. There's nobody out here to hide from and if there is I won't let them take you."

It's the small, simple moments like this that let me know that she does truly care for the people that are close to her. But sometimes she forgets it's _my_ job to keep her safe.

"I'll do it when I'm in the truck. But not when I'm out and moving around. Sound good?"

It's always hard to tell what she was thinking every time she smiled at me.

"Go take your position captain."

"Yes ma'am." I said as I racked the bolt back and loaded my first round.

 **1541 Hours**

 **Outskirts of Basrah, Moving Towards Highway One, Iraq**

Even though route was written as cleared, that didn't mean that the insurgency wasn't watching us. This had to be the most nervous I had been in a combat zone. Cause this was the way they inflicted most of the casualties to the Coalition in the last several years. Being in a thin skinned semi-truck, along with frequent complains of boredom from Excalibur, wasn't making me feel any better either. A majority of the transportation either flew by helicopter or went across country to reach their destination. But if the cargo was too volatile or too heavy, you had to take the roads. Knowing that the insurgents, which a lot of them weren't even Iraqi, had no chance against us in a fight or even a small arms ambush they resorted to a well-known household name that was plastered on the news every time it happened, improvised explosive devices. The way that they put the things together along with the materials they used was, in no exaggeration, genius. From washing machine dials for timers to saw blades with a dozen spent batteries for pressure detonation, they hooked them up to any type of combustible material with some weighing up to 500 pounds and this crude method worked with devastating efficiency. So much to a point where the US had to invent from scratch new vehicles to travel on the roads and detect them. Sometimes it takes a while but eventually the US military adapts to the tactics their enemy uses. It's why those MRAP's and MATV's I saw were so successful, they were built to withstand those massive explosions. Couple that with finally using our down looking satellites and the Air Force using unmanned drones constantly watching the roads to see if anyone was digging them up, things were calming down a bit.

But I knew that they were just licking their wounds and biding their time. They weren't stupid and they knew of the widening gap of opinion about the war from the American people and their government. History really has a very twisted way of repeating itself cause the same thing happened in Vietnam. We left Southeast Asia as a mess and since there was no one around for them to be afraid of, they just did whatever the fuck they pleased. Including a madman who decided to wipe out over a quarter of his own country to establish his peasant utopia. Now it's evolved into a form that doesn't even revolve around ideologies, nations, or even people. It revolves around business, keeping a fire going just so that a faceless monster can get a proper return on its investment. The big problem though was that there really wasn't anyone to blame for this. It was more like a disease that was infecting nations and people at an alarming rate. They couldn't see that they were becoming increasingly numb to war and it was becoming routine.

"Christ Damien your finger's on the trigger, you don't need to be so tense. You're starting to make me nervous."

As Lehm spoke up to get my attention I realized where my hand was.

"Sorry. I feel safer actually walking to where we need to go. Besides you know those guys out there don't care about what we're hauling. They just want casualties."

He then lit up his next cigarette, I was already used to it but the amount of smoke so far this afternoon was gonna make me stink. He hid it well but I could tell he was a little on edge himself. Even though he was a chain smoker he was already halfway through his second pack.

"I know how you feel. God, twenty years ago when I was out here things were simple and direct. How war's were supposed to be fought normally. Now a days it changes over night with these PMC's like Excalibur and businessmen mixed with regular soldiers. The line between soldier and civilian is getting very blurry."

"You get to smash any of Saddam's SCUD's while you were here last time?"

"Not entirely. But you know what, I got a little treat for you." He then got on his radio and tuned into our personal channel. "Hey Wiley."

" _What's up?"_

"Damien hasn't heard the story about the first mission we went on. Why don't you tell him?"

" _Yeah man. Anything is better than listen to those morons."_ Ugo cut in.

" _Same here, it never gets old."_ Mao came next.

" _Carried unanimously. Tell him Wiley."_ Koko said finalizing.

" _Heh, heh, heh. Alright fine. I had just come out of Sapper School and after the Engineers went in with 18_ _th_ _Airborne Corps I came across a then Captain John Lehmbrick."_

 **Nineteen Years Earlier:**

 **January 18** **th** **1991 1030 Hours**

 **XVIII Airborne Corps Command Camp, Saudi Arabia**

"Yo! Wiley! Looking for a Wiley Coyote!"

The man doing the shouting was not dressed as the rest of the US troops. Except for the Beretta on his right leg he was dressed in civilian clothes or rather they wrapped around his well-built and hardened form. He was also unshaven and had unkept dirty blonde hair which matched his grey blue eyes and was walking around with a lit cigarette in his mouth. But nobody dared say anything because they all knew where he came from and what men like him could do.

"Come on! Where the fuck is Lieutenant William Nelson!?"

A young African-American man with glasses was paying attention for a little bit but when he finally heard his name, he didn't want to keep the man shouting waiting. He fit the persona of a young man ready to join the army ranks as a fresh officer. A thin but still athletic build, short buzz cut hair, clean shaven and outfitted with the same tan desert uniform like everyone else. He stood up and introduced himself.

"I'm William Nelson sir. Can I help you?"

"Ahh…so you do exist. Captain Lehmbrick, 1st Special Forces, Detachment Delta."

He then extended his well-toned and hairy arm. The shocked Lieutenant Nelson shook his hand and felt the crushing grip of a Tier 1 Special Forces Operative.

"Good to meet ya." He said patting his shoulder as well. A sign to let him know he wasn't in any kind of trouble.

"Honored to meet you sir."

"I spoke to your CO and we could use your help. Come with me, we'll walk and talk."

The perplexed Nelson froze for a few seconds. But the roar of two passing, low flying, and fully outfitted A-10 Thunderbolts brought him out of his bafflement brought him back to Earth. He then jogged to catch up with him.

 _Delta Force? What could they need me for?_

Lehmbrick then pulled out a map from his breast pocket and unfolded it. Nelson then saw on the top of the topographical map was marked as "Top Secret". He was still trying to compensate that he had now crossed into the world of black ops. But he still wondered how and why.

"So if you guys are with Delta Force. Does that mean were going on a SCUD hunt? Or are we crippling the Iraqi chain of command?"

"Someone's got a hard on for some action. But no, this one is a little different, it'll be four of us plus you. Intelligence confirmed that there's a chemical weapons plant at the base of a mountain in northern Iraq. Since were now fully engaged, they're gonna throw everything they have to stop us. We can't bomb the place with an airstrike because if we do, that gas will leak and will spread to wherever the wind takes it and that would be disastrous. So we need to take it out from the inside, we stop their production and bury the gas under the rubble so it doesn't spread at the same time."

"How do we do that?" He asked.

"That's where you come in. We're hoping with your expertise in demolitions and architecture, we can flatten this place with using only the minimum amount of C4. And we have to do it within the next 36 hours so forgive me for saying this but were gonna have to give you a crash course in HALO jumping."

If it wasn't for the heat, the young Lieutenant would have been sweating nervously. He had now been tasked with shouldering the weight of possibly shifting the outcome of Operation Desert Storm completely in the Coalitions favor.

"Sir, I've only written a thesis paper on structural demolition. This seems a little much for me."

"All you have to do is just figure out how to level the place. We'll handle everything else. Trust me you'll be fine."

He must have had a lot of confidence in him because Nelson noticed he was speaking to him in a very relaxed drawl. It still didn't change the fact he was nervous as all hell. He was about to entire hostile territory behind enemy lines. He didn't even notice a shout of greetings from a man calling out his nickname, sitting on the hood of a Humvee. He along with the other two were dressed in the same simple civilian clothes like their captain. From first glance, the looked rather plain, who the were though was anything but.

"You must be the famous Wiley. Let me introduce you to the team."

The man in question then shook their hands one at a time.

"This is SFC Bernie Arkin. This is Sergeant Dan Howe. And I'm Lieutenant Sean Eckhart, but please call me Echo."

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Nelson."

"Be gentle on him boys. He hasn't popped his cherry yet."

Lehmbrick's squad then let out a hearty laugh. Some references from the old war twenty-five years ago still had their touch. And with that, four Delta's and one Engineer drove off to make history that the world would never know about.

 **1800 Hours**

 **King Abdul Aziz Air Base, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia**

During the lengthy ride in one of the Army's brand new UH-60 helicopters. Lehmbrick gave their new demo expert Wiley the only solid intel they had on the structure of the facility, an aerial photograph. What he didn't expect however was the green kid turn into a bit of an analytical machine almost instantly. Even hours after they had touched down to prepare for their raid the following morning, he didn't leave the hangar they were waiting to go from and was still in his notebook writing anything and everything he could about the supposed layout of the interior of the chemical weapons plant. Destroying it wasn't going to be the issue but there was one big problem he couldn't figure out. As he wrote down his final note, he took off his glasses and walked outside to get some cool air now that the sun was going down. Gripping his hands together while looking off in the distance he leaned back on the hangar door and slid down to the ground.

 _Alright, that nail's out it's layout. But the real problem is the gas, none of us know where it is. I mean it's not like they're saying "This is top secret so blow it up."_

As Wiley was sitting outside the aircraft hanger in his thinking pose, Echo was walking to him with two styrofoam containers from the chow hall.

"You almost missed chow man. You still writing in that damn book?" He asked handing him one of the containers.

"Well we got a problem." He said as he opened the container. "Uhh…take that back, two. What the hell is this?"

It was only in the last few years that military food during deployment had gotten somewhat better. That was not however a complement.

"They said flank steak but I think it's an old tire piece painted brown. Anyway what's up?"

"The gas. If we don't know where it is then we run the risk of leveling just the building and they can just ship the tanks it's in somewhere else." Wiley said in a thinking tone while trying to cut his steak.

"Like Captain Lehm said, you just worry about the building, nothing else." He said as he sat next to his new friend.

As they continued to eat, Wiley took out his notebook and the photo again. His eyes were dotting back and forth between his notes and the photo. Eckhart was starting to find Nelson's analysis a bit obsessive. Even with his extensive knowledge in engineering.

"I understand that you majored in architecture at the University of Virginia. Why'd you major in that if you wanted to be a combat engineer?"

Wiley then turned to him with a grin.

"How about I tell you all at once were in the sky?"

 **January 19** **th** **2010 0339 Hours**

 **30000 Feet Above the Zargos Mountains, Iraq**

A ride in a C-130 wasn't what your average serviceman would call quiet and sometimes comfortable. It was designed to haul cargo, only thing that mattered was the level of secrecy. But there wasn't anything secret or subtle when the Delta's found out about why Wiley joined up in the first place.

"Jesus Christ! Do you believe the shit this guy's saying?!"

As Akrin was holding on to his gut guffawing. The rest of the Delta's were doing their best not to lose it as well. They realized why William Nelson had earned the nickname of one of the wackiest characters of Looney Toons.

"You come from a family of architects and you join the army to blow buildings up by learning how to build them? Shit dude you got a bigger screw loose than all of us put together!"

Eckhart was having trouble trying to suppress his laughter as well. He had come across a lot of silly examples of irony in his life, Army life not included. But this had to be the silliest. However, the fun and games died down when Lehmbrick checked his watch and his smile turned neutral.

"Alright guys, load up and check each other's gear. We're twenty minutes from the drop zone."

Each man then prepared for his role. Magazines secured, C4 prepped, straps tightened, radio's functional, faces painted, assholes puckered. Each one knew that they had to be in and out as fast as possible because if the Iraqi's caught them, death was going to be merciful. But Wiley had a system for keeping himself focused and calm. Thinking about the building and how to destroy it along with burying the chemical weapons, nothing else. Nothing when Echo was giving him a last minute brief on when to pull his cord. Nothing when the light to prepare for the jump turned red. Nothing when it turned green and they fell into the mountains.

 **0530 Hours**

After landing three miles from their target, the sun was already starting to rise. They fast walked towards the cliff that was overseeing the chemical weapons facility so that they would have more than ample energy to take out the guards inside. It wasn't a very descriptive looking place, as a matter of fact it looked pretty average. Almost as if it looked like a simple power station without the power lines. That of course was the reason why it looked like that, to not raise suspicion of what it really was. After the adrenaline rush of the freefall and the hustle to make it to the plant, it had dawned on Nelson that he was about to enter his first firefight. Along with the fact he was in the heart of enemy territory with an Iraqi brigade stationed not too far from the plant. Captain Lehmbrick then got his attention.

"Ok boy's there it is. We gotta move fast but we can't let them call for reinforcements so we'll hit their comm tower before we storm the main facility. Let's get down this cliff."

Each man dropped their backpacks and got out their ropes and repelling harnesses. Echo then looked at a rather nervous Wiley. They may have been the same rank, but he was far greener. He wouldn't hold that against him though, everyone needs a hand during their first trial by fire. He placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Just stick with us. And the first round is on me."

Wiley then got his confidence back. "Right. Let's do this."

 **0552 Hours**

They managed to get down the cliff and approach the plant in a quick and quiet manner but slowed down once they breached the perimeter. Third world facilities didn't have the many state of the art security systems as any normal military would but that didn't mean it wasn't poorly defended. There were quite a number of guards they had to silently dispatch before they destroyed the comm tower. Then the main raid had begun.

Breaching, clearing and maintaining a mobile 360-degree field of security they moved towards the center building. The one where Nelson had most likely deduced that the chemicals would be at. With cold and focused efficiency, they eliminated any threat in their path. Suffice it to say, the young William Nelson couldn't hide his feelings of both awe and fear.

 _God in Heaven they're like machines. One minute we were just shooting the shit on the plane and the next they're shooting anything that moves like it's nothing._

"Lehm! I think I found where the gas is at!" Howe said after he killed another guard.

"Where!?" He asked as Howe pointed at the writing on the wall in Arabic.

"This says "Main Storage and Production" that's gotta be it."

"We'll find out soon enough. Wiley! Lets move!"

"On your six!" He said as he followed them from his cover.

Sure enough it led them to their prize. After dispatching the guards and taking their access keys they opened the large steel door that contained the same poison that Saddam had used on the innocent Kurds several years prior during the Iran-Iraq War. Now US Army Delta Force would make sure it never be used here again. The manufacturing room was very open but had quite a few large support pillars. The tanks that contained the deadly gas were appropriately marked with hazard symbols. A separate room was marked where the missiles for delivering the agent were kept. Finally were a few researchers and a dozen guards whose orders were to defend the gas or die trying.

They died, without getting the chance to shoot. The scientists that associated with murder got the same treatment. Lehmbrick then got the squads attention.

"That should be the last of them. But they had to have sent runners for reinforcements. We don't have much time. Wiley! Work fast!"

"Yes sir! Just give me all the C4!" He said as he got towards the center of the room and began formulating a plan in his head.

He immediately realized that they had a big problem. While they found where the poison gas was easily, all five of them didn't have enough C4 to level the part of the plant they needed to destroy. There were too many pillars and the structural layout wouldn't collapse in on itself all at once. After doing some quick calculations in his head, the answer couldn't be more obvious. He needed more explosives but it didn't have to be just C4 considering where they were at. He then formed a successful grin on his face as he kneeled down to unpack the explosives from the first bag. Little however did he know, he was in the sights of a guard that refused to die without taking a member of the Great Satan with him.

"FUCK! WILEY!" Eckhart screamed as both men shot at the same time.

The rounds barely missed Lieutenant Nelson's head by millimeters, but he wasn't moving much. As Echo sprinted to see if the Engineer was alright, he was bewildered on what he saw. Prepping the demo charges and simply adjusting his glasses looking like nothing had happened.

"That is some intense focus. You are one crazy coyote."

The crazed combat engineer then looked to the Delta operator with a small right portion of his scalp bleeding.

"Echo, we don't have enough charges to bring this place down. We need an accelerant."

"Where we gonna get that?" He asked somewhat panicked that the mission might be in jeopardy.

"The missiles. Get the fuel for them and I'll do the rest." Wiley said calmly.

 **0618 Hours**

Knowing the blast was going to cause a lot of flying debris and a brutal shockwave the team strung out their det-cord as far as it could so that they had proper cover. All that was left was to hit the switch and pray that it worked. Lehmbrick saw that Nelson was ready, it was time to see if Wiley Coyote was crazy good or crazy bad.

"Alright Nelson, hit it!"

"Yes sir. Fire in the hole!"

The detonator sent the current through the cord to the charges it was attached to and the ground began to shake with the explosion inside the plant. But what happened was clean and precise minus the dust being kicked up from the collapsing buildings. With the use of proper demolition techniques the building that contained the gas collapsed in on itself, burying the poison, just as the crazed coyote had been told.

"Holy shit would you look at that!" Arkin said while looking through his binoculars.

"Yeah I thought it was gonna be some massive blast but it just flattened out all nice and clean!" Howe said making the gestures with his hands.

"Like I said, you're one crazy coyote. Great job Will." Echo said with a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks guys."

"Alright, alright. We can celebrate later, we're still behind the lines and we got a chopper to get to. Haul ass!"

As Lehmbrick then led the squad to run to the rendezvous, he turned his head to make sure Wiley heard him.

"I don't think I need you guys' opinion on whether he's good enough or not, so the decision is unanimous. Nelson!"

"Sir?"

"How'd you like to be one of us?" He asked.

"Wha…sir are you serious?" Wiley answered unsure of what he said was real or not.

"I'll pull a few favors to try and get you past the new guy bullshit and you're definitely tough enough to handle the pressure. But we do need to chip off the rough edges."

"Sir I…"

"Don't think about it too hard. Delta Force will be glad to add you to the ranks Lieutenant Nelson."


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37: The Sandbox**

 **Present Time:**

 **November 8** **th** **2010 1610 Hours**

 **Highway One, Iraq**

It was always good listening to the stories of vets that opened up. You got to hear the real stories of wars that men saw through their own eyes. Unfortunately, some can exaggerate them to a point where you doubt their credibility and I wasn't just referring to much older vets who's heads weren't always in the right place. A little unwritten fact about guys and girls that talk a lot. Those who talk the most, did the least. But I could tell by the look on Lehm's face at certain points of the story that he was telling the truth. Honestly I thought Wiley scored a lucky break with the missile fuel, or they would have been screwed.

" _Not long after Desert Storm I went through Delta training and earned the right to officially be called a Delta Operator. Fast forward a few years and I ran into Echo again at the officers club in Ft. Bragg. After he told me Lehm got a promotion and had retired he asked about the neat cut above my ear. When I told him I shaved the sides because it wouldn't grow back his spilled his beer all over himself laughing! He then said his contract was about to be up and he said he was done. He planned on joining up with Lehm and his new bodyguard job, you can guess who his first client was. Not long after we both left we caught up with Lehm and that's when I first met Koko. Enchanted by her charisma, the rest is history._ "

As he finished up on the radio a somewhat uneasy feeling came over me. He didn't say the number of years but if I did the math correctly how in the world did an adolescent girl charm over three Delta Force operators to be her personal guard and stick with her for the longest time. Granted Floyd Hekmatyar's money was the easiest answer but I was very skeptical on that, and everyone here didn't place a lot of value on being paid. They always talked about how great it was to work for Koko and they kept each other safe like a true band of brothers, and one sister. They also would do anything to make sure that if one began to fall, they wouldn't let them fall so hard that they couldn't stand back up. My little tiff with Karen Low proved that. I loved these guys for that, including the fact that they always give me a chance to break their balls.

"Gotta say…that is a very long ass way of telling me why a portion of your hair can't grow back."

The entire net then bursted out laughing.

" _God I knew something like that was coming."_ Lutz.

" _Is that all you paid attention to Damien?"_ Koko.

"What did you guys expect? You need to stop giving me these opportunities, it's getting to be too easy!"

" _I must agree with the gentleman. It seems like he does this rather frequently."_

Under my balaclava my face straightened and I looked towards Lehm if he heard that but as usual he didn't care. The voice on the radio caught me by surprise. It was well spoken but it's accent was Arabic which led me to one conclusion.

"Koko why is Excalibur's translator on our net?" I somewhat demanded.

" _Relax Damien. I don't have my earpiece in and it's not on an open channel. He's the only one riding with me Lutz, and Valmet. He just asked to hear the story too."_

" _I know that you got off on the wrong foot with Mr. Turner but my job is to only translate for him. I'm not Iraqi military or anything like that. Let me make a formal introduction, my name is Nazal."_

"Eindam turid altahaduth mae 'ayi mina, ais'al mudiri." I said making my point stick.

(When and if you want to talk to any of us, ask my boss.)

 **Center of the Convoy, Koko's Vehicle**

With the click on the radio, it was apparent to Nazal that the apparent attack dog of HCLI's crew was not looking for any type of conversation. But it didn't seem that he would be of any hinderance to him infiltrating Excalibur's ranks. He hoped though that whoever he was, was someone he hadn't met before. On paper Nazal was legitimate but with personal interactions of the US forces he wasn't considered 100% reliable to be trusted with certain types of intelligence.

Throughout his life, Nazal had been through three of Iraq's major wars. Once when he was only a child when his father came back from Iran with only one leg. The next when his oldest brother was burned to death in a T-72. After the sanctions that were placed on Iraq after the Gulf War and the invasion in 2003 he had had enough of being helpless in a brutal world and decided that there was only one thing that mattered, surviving. It didn't matter how he did it but he was going to be someone that came out with what they wanted, even if he had to rely on types that were more nefarious than he would like to admit. That's where he came across the idea of putting on the facade of the nice guy, find the least aggressive path so that the outcome would benefit in his favor.

"I'm amazed you have men that have fought here twenty years ago and most recently Miss Hekmatyar. I'm surprised he speaks Arabic so well."

He then turned around to the back seat to address the woman in white.

"With so much violence it is good to see that there are still some that want to do some good here. It warms my heart that your donating the materials and supplies to build a school here."

What came next though was what he didn't expect her to answer.

"Mr. Nazal, none of us are here because we WANT to be here. I speak Arabic as well as he does so you should know by how he answered you that he wants this trip to be as less stressful as possible and I agree with him. It would also be bad for my image, and HCLI's if I just sold weapons all the time. This little trip is about repairing my reputation. Not this country's infrastructure every time something gets blown up."

 _Allaenata. Hadhih aimra'at ghyr hada._

 _(Damn. That's one blunt woman.)_

"Plus the only reason we need Turner and his lame asses is because there's too much to defend and my bodyguards can't drive and defend at the same time. You however are a liability."

Sensing her apparent frustration, he decided to try and ease her mood.

"I understand but at least try to temper your frustration. I actually won't be working for them much longer and I would like to leave their company on good terms. My only reason for being with them is because no one on their team speaks Arabic."

' _Aw ladayh damagh lihadhih almas'alat._

 _(Or has a brain for that matter.)_

It was no secret that most PMC's were looked at with distain by both the local's and Coalition Forces. Being held unaccountable to the Law's of War meant that they could get away with a lot of questionably legal things. Those that were employed in these companies came from all walks of life, the same as any military. But a majority of them came from either the bad ones or left their service on less than desirable terms. The examples of them came on the open channel, ruining the silence that HCLI was enjoying from them while they listened to Wiley's story.

" _Goddamn. I wanna shoot at something."_ One said bored.

" _Me too I got too much pent-up energy."_ One said too eager.

" _Never mind that. Did you all see the massive jiggly bits on that one bird!?"_ One not afraid to die.

" _Fuck yeah! I'd jump on those grenades in a heartbeat!"_ One that might get his wish.

"Oh God, I hope Damien didn't hear that."

Lutz was hoping for the best but he knew he was lying to himself because he knew that wasn't the case. He glanced in his rear view mirror at Valmet, having only a straight look with mild annoyance. But she had to be thinking the same thing he was. Damien mistaking one of Excalibur for an insurgent.

"Calm down Lutz. He won't lose his cool over a two bit lowlife." Koko said while turning her radio to the squads channel.

 **Truck #3**

Recently I had bought a new pair of combat gloves and didn't get the chance to use them yet. Them and boots are what guys like me go through rather frequently. When you shoot gun's rather frequently or are out in the field you try to keep your hands somewhat free of dirt and gunpowder residue. You also really would like your hands protected if you accidentally touch a hot barrel or if you trip and get a nasty cut or a stick goes through your hand. This brand however had a thick layer of Kevlar placed along the knuckles, it was peculiar in design but I saw it's use. The ability to give my punches a boost in striking power whenever I get the chance to slam their jaws shut.

"They're strumming on my last nerve too Damien." Lehm said after hearing exactly the same thing I did on the radio.

I just grunted in frustration.

"We're doing fine so far. So if all we had go wrong so far is just listen to a bunch assholes, then this trip won't be too bad." He continued letting me know he was as sore as I was.

"Doesn't me I can't complain John."

At least I was able to control myself this time. I've been doing good so far these last few months of having a calmer head. Didn't mean it was easy though, crude humor is something of a polar issue with me. I don't mind it when it's appropriate but there's sometimes a difference between trying to lighten the mood and being offensive. The only thing I could do was just block it out and get back to being a lookout. I then checked my mirror, I actually saw an old faded white sedan coming up in the distance. I got on the radio immediately.

"Hey whoever is in the rear truck you got a car coming up. See him?"

" _Yeah we see him Damien, coming up fast. It looks like he's gonna try and pass us."_ Tojo responded.

" _Anything out of the ordinary?"_ Koko then came on the net asking for the 411.

" _I don't see anything. Just one old man."_

" _This is just right for us. Take him down!"_ Said a British voice on the radio.

Before I could contemplate on what the hell he was talking about one of the gun mounted pickups swerved to the opposite side of the road and opened fire full auto. Shocked as I heard the fire from down the convoy Tojo then came on the net screaming.

" _HOLY SHIT! CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!"_

"Too late now." Lehm said to no one in particular.

The car that was being shot at then swerved further off the road from the truck that was shooting at it. Its front was on fire and ran off the side of the road into a ditch. Furious for the appropriate reasons I got on the radio.

"ALL CALL SIGNS! STOP THE FUCKING CONVOY NOW!"

"Damien there's no-"

"Just do it Lehm, please." I said cutting him off. But quickly changing my tone to asking instead of demanding.

He looked at me with a bit of hesitation cause he couldn't see the emotions I was feeling on my face but he slowed the truck to a halt. Grabbing my ACR I then hopped out of the truck before it even stopped and sprinted down the highway. Ignoring the radio chatter of what I was doing. It was stupid of me to do this and somewhat hypocritical but it was the right thing to do.

However, when I reached the torn up car, Lehm was right, there wasn't anything I could do. The lack of a man's head made that abundantly clear. Only one thing made sense now, making sure that these frat boy's with trigger fingers got a lesson in the rules of engagement. Looking back up the convoy, I headed to the truck that had the RPK. I slung my rifle to my back so that I _looked_ non-aggressive. I was really hopeful that nothing was gonna happen out here but I knew I was just pissing into the wind. On average our luck tends to suck so I figured I'd get this over with. But before I could continue with my on-the-fly plan of attack Koko came on the squad net.

" _Damien. Are you heading to the truck that opened fire?"_ She asked but also putting on her professional tone, I could tell when she was livid.

"Good guess. Why?"

" _Ask them to wait._ I _would like to be the one to talk to them and let them know that their services are no longer required."_

"You don't think I can do a good job at that?"

" _Who do you think would be worse?"_

I let out a somewhat evil chuckle. This was such a no brainer I was embarrassed at myself that it didn't cross my mind.

"You're right. I'll tell them to sit tight." I paused for a moment. "Huh, that rhymed."

As I got to the truck that fired off the initial shots the gunner looked at me as if I was about to start something. But I just ignored his poor tough guy pose and knocked on the driver side window. But when I looked inside I wasn't surprised in the least, it was blondie the movie star.

"What's the matter sunshine? You pissed for us making sure the convoy's safe?"

 _I'd feel safer dancing in a minefield._

Deciding not to troll his dumb ass I just let him know what Koko said. And with luck she was heading my way now.

"Only want you to know that my boss wishes to speak with you."

As I said pointing in direction she and Sophia were walking from he got out his truck and lit a cigarette. While none of them were looking I took out a little something from one of my pouches. I hid it under my arms as I crossed them and walked past blondie to be on Koko's other flank. There was no way scum like this would listen to her and take her seriously. They might even get pissed and try something that they would regret.

"Was there any reason why you decided to open fire on an unarmed civilian?"

"Listen missy I don't know how you do business from behind your desk in trading guns but this is I-fuckin-raq. VBIED's and IED's are all over the place. Gunmen and snipers range from kids to old men. If we stop for everything that looks even remotely suspicious then we'd be out here all week. We've been here a lot longer than you so I think we know how to operate."

"Well if you know that much better than finding another form of employment won't be too hard. Because I'm firing your sorry asses."

The thug's reaction was priceless.

"Excuse me? You can't just cut us loose! Who's gonna drive your tru-"

"Are you so full of shit that it's clogged up your ears too?" She said cutting him off. "I want your men out of my trucks and out of my face now!"

"Why you fucking-!"

Before he said another word I took out my little surprise I had for him and he froze in place. The challenging part was taking the pin out quietly.

"I believe the lady said that you're somewhat constipated. Maybe if I can get you to swallow this, it will clear everything out."

The movie star then bit through the filter on his smoke. It seems like I didn't need the grenade since he looked like he was about to shit himself.

"Are you bloody crazy!?"

"My buddy Wiley's story seems to have had that effect on me. Now she asked once, I'm not gonna ask at all."

He then frantically fumbled with his radio. "Turner! It's McDowell! Tell the guys to get out of the lorries now!"

" _What the hell are you talking about?"_ Excalibur's chief asked unsure of what just happened.

" _Miss Hekmatyar has terminated our services. It appears you were too hasty in your action's Mr. Turner."_

I was a little caught off guard as I heard him over the radio, that seemed kind of sketchy. But as their conversation continued I looked at Koko and all she did was raise her finger to tell me not to jump to conclusions. I then looked to Sophia and she nodded slightly.

" _What!? Nazal!? When did this happen!?"_

" _I was talking to Miss Hekmatyar after the convoy stopped. I made a generous proposition and she has let me assume a temporary position of employment with HCLI. In other words, she fired you and I quit."_

If he could see my face behind my balaclava the newly named McDowell would probably be even been more pissed off at the fact that I was grinning at him ear to ear. When their former translator was finished, Koko put the final nail in the coffin. Those cold, predatory, ice, blue, eyes piercing right through him.

"Tell Turner to get his ass in gear and if your men touch anything, it'll be the last thing you ever do."

 **1635 Hours**

The good news was that we dumped the excess bags of shit known as Excalibur and our trip through the middle of nowhere became a lot more tolerable. The bad news was that we cut our security potential down to the bare minimum and if worst came to worst we would have to ditch the cargo and most of the trucks and haul ass to the nearest US patrol. An unprotected convoy was something any sane individual in this country would like to not be a part of but hopefully any possible insurgent out here didn't peg us as a threat. They seemed a bit more interested in attacking the American's but any Westerner would do. The stories of the last few years of people getting kidnapped and tortured were gruesome and these fuckers loved to flaunt their work. But I kept thinking of what Wiley told me earlier, I can't get involved in politics in this line of work. It makes everything more complicated and can give you even more enemies than you could handle.

But now was not the time to think about that, I had to be on extra alert since I was driving a truck by myself. That is if I didn't include my passengers that were my ACR and Remington .375 Ultra Mag. It had been a while since I had used a sniper rifle. In my toy box back on the ship was my other one, a Winchester Model 70 that used the standard NATO 7.62 round or .308 caliber. Both models were modified for a combat environment with different stocks and magazine sizes along with getting the bolts retooled so that they loaded and unloaded rounds more smoothly. Besides practice, the last time I used it was to provide overwatch on a heroin deal on the Armenian/Turk border. Fortunately that was one of the few times a deal went well and no shots were fired. Compared to the mountains there the open sand dunes of Iraq provided a lot of open ground and to the south it was quite flat making it very difficult to find places to hide. So I figured I'd finally get the chance to put my practice to purpose as well as let Lehm and Lutz know that there's another marksman vying for the title as the squads top shot. But even practice against some paper targets would have been great by now. I was starting to get bored, until my cell phone beeped with a text message, it was Koko.

" **Wanna play a prank on Valmet? ;)"**

I then smirked and returned the text. I had to do something on this trip besides possibly breaking the traffic law of texting and driving.

" **Hell yeah. How?"**

" **Turn your radio frequency channel to 448. It'll just be me and you then wait for my signal."**

After a punching in few buttons I texted back.

" **Done."**

I then heard through my earpiece of what was going on immediatley.

" _You know Valmet it's been a while since I've seen you drive trucks like these."_

" _It's not as hard as it seems. When I was still with the Mechanized Jager's everyone was trained to operate heavy trucks for equipment hauling. While it was a skill we were forced to know regardless of rank it was SOP for if we ever…suffered mass casualties."_

I didn't need to figure out she was thinking about her men. I did tell her that the pain and memories weren't gonna disappear instantly. But I could take solace in the fact that I helped her move past a point in her life when she was at her weakest. The difference between me and her was that she still had a tremendous amount of humanity within her, even when she left her unit. Mine was warped and twisted, especially in my training, and I let loose everything that was terrible inside me on that horrible night. My attempt to rebuild my humanity is thankfully becoming stronger, but there always be a mark that will forever remind me that a portion of me is a monster.

" _Do you think you can teach me to drive like this?"_

I could tell by Koko's tone that she wanted to get her out of that specific train of thought immediately.

" _I mean it's not the first time you've taught me about something I've never experienced before. About how you can guide my arms, legs, shoulders, waist, and everywhere else."_ She said while gradually slowing the sentence becoming somewhat amorous.

" _Koko! I'm driving! Not there!"_ She said surprised.

There was only one, or I should say two things, I could picture what "there" was but apart from Koko getting me to listen in on something pervy I was wondering where this was leading.

" _You never complained about this before. Or does Damien have an even gentler touch?"_

The net went silent for a moment.

" _Don't look at me like that, I haven't been cuddling up to him like usual. But please tell me, how have you two been these last few months?"_

" _Alright. I really can't tell what should be normal since I haven't been in a relationship for as long as I can remember. Except for when we were butting heads…"_

" _Literally."_ Koko said interrupting her.

" _Ugh…he hasn't really changed the way we speak to each other on a casual basis. He's sweet, but he still acts like a jackass so I need to figure out how I'm going to get him to_ try _and stop being one."_

I chuckled for a brief moment. She can't change one of the defining things that make me, me.

" _Well_ I _can_ _help you with that."_

That had to be my cue. If she wants me to change, I know of a rather cruel way that she should change a few things about herself.

"Tell her she's fat." I whispered on the private channel.

" _Maybe if you stopped gorging yourself on his food you wouldn't have those love handles."_

 _A bit elaborate, but this works._

" _Koko!"_ She said embarrassed.

"Tell her she should respect my right to smoke." A little revenge for every time she knocked a cigar out of my mouth.

" _You should also let him do what he wants when he's spending time with you. You're going to have to tolerate his cigars. If you couldn't handle Lehm's cigarettes, you won't last a minute with Damien."_

" _But Koko I'll smell like tar! This is more than I can take."_ She said begging.

"If she can't take my awesomeness she's not worthy."

" _If you can't handle that overwhelming, incredible, icon of all that is man then I'll take him from you."_

" _Wait a minute…"_

Koko was trying to stifle her laughter when she was talking but I think we both overplayed the exaggeration a bit much.

"I think we've been found out. What's her expression?"

" _Angry, Damien."_

"Tell her we didn't mean it seriously."

" _We? You came up with this plan. You told me to say exactly what you told me to tell her."_

 _Oh shit._

"Koko you wouldn't."

" _You're right. I wouldn't tell her that her boobs belonged to only you."_

" _DAMIEN!"_ She said causing the radio to screech.

"Shit! Disconnect! Disconnect!"

 **1655 Hours**

After the incident that shall remain nameless, Wiley apparently saw a safe spot to park the convoy at so that we could stretch our legs. How the hell he figured out that anywhere in this country, much less the roads, was safe was beyond me. But at least he got out and checked the area first for anything out of the ordinary. Being an explosives expert, he had a knack for seeing anything that was out of the ordinary such as freshly dug sad, a conveniently placed garbage bag, or even a car that shouldn't be parked where is. Since the days were getting shorter it was gonna be dark in a few hours, but at least we wouldn't be out here longer than we needed to. Koko explained that once we'd drop off the containers we'd stay at Ali Air Base and the US Air Force would give us a ride back to Kuwait in the morning. Only problem though was that we had no escort to drive us there anymore. But Koko had pulled miracles before so I wasn't really worried. But I was worried about OPSEC though, we were still in a hostile environment and since I wasn't as laid back as everyone else I volunteered myself to keep a look out from on top of one of the trucks. Everyone else was just chatting and getting out their dinner, hamburger's they bought from when we were in Basrah.

As much of a luxury as it seemed for having American fast food franchises out here I wasn't the one to break so easily. Having some dried fruit and granola was fine for me. As I glanced over to look at them, I shook my head in disapproval. The only one to look up was Sophia. But she just went right back to eating as if she didn't even see me. She was giving me the silent treatment again, but I knew that this was only temporary. Despite being in the middle of a hostile environment we all had to do something to make the time go by faster. Few people in the civilian world do this and understand it but ask any soldier and they'll tell you that as long as it gets you through the day and it's all in good fun, the best of friends will always give each other shit. It was now I finally realized, when I was a kid, all the times when I saw other soldiers congregating whether they were on duty or not would be just talking mad trash to each other but in the end no fights broke out.

"Valmet cock blocking you again?"

Lehm. His timing on point as usual.

"Shut up you old fart. What do you want?" I asked as he sat next to me.

"Just want to talk, I know you and I have been thinking the same thing."

Honestly I wasn't. Most of what I was thinking was about after we drop off the containers and where we were gonna get a ride. But I decided to humor him.

"How Wiley finding out this place is NOT gonna blow us up the moment we roll out?"

He let out his distinct chuckle. "Nah. Actually it was about Excalibur probably coming back to get even with us."

I paused getting my next piece of mixed dried fruit and took off my shades. I wanted to make sure that he saw the skepticism in my eyes.

"You can't be serious? You think they're that stupid to try and start their own little war out here? With us of all people?"

"From experience working with Koko, guys like that normally don't just leave cause you tell 'em to. You told me before that you did something similar."

He was referring to one of my jobs in Russia before I met Amalia. My employer got short changed on a deal and he decided to take what he wanted by force. However as they were about to execute their plan I ran at the last possible second. The reasons why I got my next job so easily and no one asked questions was that the guys I used to work for were all killed.

"That's because I wasn't stupid enough to try and raid a Russian Army ammo dump. Despite what you may think I'm not as crazy or unstable as…well I used to be."

He smirked. "Despite you waking up every day next to Valmet without having your throat cut, you're not the most dangerous one here."

"Let me guess, Koko?"

"Hah. Not even close, it's actually Wiley."

"Ok how so?" I said with interest piqued.

"Well you already know that both of them are on the FBI's blacklist. Only reason you don't make the cut is because, as you know, the Agency likes to keep things under wraps."

"You don't need to remind me." I grumbled.

"When Koko first came onto the scene as not only an arms dealer but also as one of two successors to a multibillion dollar shipping empire we had to deal with all kinds of threats. It's one of the major downsides to being rich and powerful. You tend to make enemies whether you want to or not and you got some jokers that just want to make an easy score with a kidnapping. Some though don't care about money as you have seen."

"Well how does this make Wiley dangerous?"

"You know skills grow through experience. With bomb threats being kind of frequent in the years we've been working for Koko, Wiley's managed to surpass anyone that's even tried. His method though is to give the bomb makers and assassins their present back and it makes a damn good cover in misleading the authorities. On occasion he was considered a suspect in quite a few cases on hitmen blowing themselves up but nothing ever stuck. Hell, one time I remember some guy wanted to just bring a whole hotel building down on top of us instead of waiting for a precision attack. But Wiley managed to rewire the thing to where only one floor would be destroyed instead of the whole place. We got to a safe distance away from the place and when we had confirmation that the bomber had went back to check on the device, a six story building became a five story one."

"There weren't any people in that place were there?"

His expression became serious for a moment. It was then that maybe I shouldn't have called out Wiley for being reckless.

"It was a shitty hotel and we managed to calmly get the staff and guests out without causing a scene. There's a reason why he's as good as he is. But frequently he thinks of explosives as a game. All those compliments of his achievements over the years since the Gulf War have kinda fueled his fire. He keeps wanting make cooler and better explosions and Koko encouraged him, she was actually a sullen little brat at the time, from there it just grew."

"Shit. Better not let Koko hear that." I said warning him.

"HEY YOU TWO UP THERE!"

"Too late."

Hearing Koko's shout I poked my head out from on top of the container.

"Were getting ready to go in five. Damien I want you on the rear guard when we roll out."

"Got it." But before I got off the truck I saw Nazal get off his phone. "Hey who the fuck's he calling?"

"Calm down Damien, I gave him permission to make that call. Plus I overheard him in Arabic the whole time."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to keep him along for this?" I asked as I climbed down off the truck.

She then approached me and tapped her fist on my plates. But then spoke to me in a language that Nazal couldn't understand.

"Je l'ai en laisse. S'il devient enrage, je le deposerai moi-meme."

(I have him on a leash. If he turns rabid, I'll put him down myself.)

I looked to him and back to her, him wondering what the HCLI heiress and her only masked bodyguard were talking about.

"C'est suffisant. Petite dame."

(Fair enough. Little lady.)

 **1720 Hours**

The sun was still bright but it was starting to get lower in the sky. We were pretty much half an hour away from our destination. Maybe this trip wasn't going to be as stressful as I thought it was going to be.

" _Koko this is Truck 1. We got a sharp turn up ahead with a ridge overlooking it. Kinda making me feel uneasy. I want us all to slow to a stop and I'll check it out."_

Or not. That was normally the trend with hopes, they were fragile things that didn't last very long. And more often than not when they get shattered you fall back on your ass harder than you had anticipated. I kept quiet and just listened in on the net. Koko came up next, letting out a very frustrated groan.

" _Aw damn it! Everyone listen up, I want full security around the entire convoy. Lehm, Lutz, Damien, get your rifles out. We're NOT getting caught in an ambush by a low level group of thugs like Excalibur."_

" _Copy that."_

" _Here we go again."_

" _Nazal, no further phone calls until I say so."_

" _Understood Miss Hekmatyar."_

"Just another day on the job." I said without speaking through my radio as I grabbed my .375 Ultra Mag.

After getting out of the truck I hopped up on top of the trailer, as I kneeled down to load up my five rounds I got on the radio to ask for sectors of fire.

"I got the rear of the convoy for pretty much 180 degrees, Lehm? Lutz? What about you guys?"

" _I got eyes on that ridge line."_ Lutz.

" _I've got the open area to our 8."_ Lehm.

" _I'm heading towards where they might have set up an IED now. Keep me covered."_ Wiley.

Knowing to trust him, and do my damnedest not to judge his sanity, I then set up my bipod, adjusted the scope and got comfortable. My bulky plates and ammo pouches weren't necessarily good for sniping but I had to make due. Since I was shooting by myself I had to make the corrections to my shots myself, not really a tactfully sound thing since sniper's always worked in pairs. But if you've gotten enough practice in you can do all the tasks yourself. Sniping is kind of like hunting in a way, depending on whether you stalk the target or let it come to you. Today so far it was the latter, as I saw in the distance our former partners dip in and out of the ascending and descending road.

"Koko, I got a lot of dust trails popping up behind us. You called it right, it's them again."

" _Wait until they're close. Then you're free to engage Damien."_

"Copy." I said as I flicked off the safety.

I really didn't believe that these assholes wanted to do this. But this was the hazard of mercenaries and being in a country that's teetering on lawlessness doesn't help. These soldier wannabes had no idea how badly their day was about to be ruined. As I started to calm my breathing to make my shot they started to get above the last ridge before they would have visual on us, that was my cue. My target was the driver of the first truck, but when I saw who was driving it I couldn't help but smile. Those stupid purple Oakley's were a big reflective target and I could see them through the windshield.

"This is the part where you gentlemen would say," Switching over to English. "Oh Bugger."

Hold breath, trigger squeeze, recoil, target eliminated.

The first gun mounted pick up then veered to its left violently and the rest followed through, unknowing that they were already being targeted. The rest of the crew opened up on them with their small arms as I heard automatic and high powered rifle fire behind me. My next target was the other gun truck, they were moving a little faster than before so I had to place my shot carefully by leading the target. I focused in on the gunner with the .50 Cal.

Once again, hold breath, trigger squeeze, recoil, target eliminated.

The gunner then fell off the back of the truck and was ran over by the SUV following it. It being lit up pretty badly from the rest of the crew, it then rolled over on its side. Knowing they were caught in the open, the attacking team from the rear screeched to a halt about sixty yards away from us off the road. All I could do was just make them stop shooting, but at least they had the smart idea to keep their heads down, it was getting hard to make a shot.

 **BOOM!**

That level of difficulty had significantly increased as I heard a massive explosion to the front of the convoy.

"SHIT! Everyone ok!? What the hell was that!?"

" _Don't worry Damien. Convoy's untouched. Wiley's just doing what he's best at."_ Koko said unfazed by the blast.

Assuming that he just took out the ambush team in the front, all we had to do was just mop up the rest of them. There was no one exiting the turned over SUV I then readjusted myself to focus on the stopped trucks and fired off my last three shots at anything that looked like a head. But as I was reloading one round at a time something wasn't adding up, not much sooner after the dust had settled from the blast the attacker's in the rear stopped shooting.

"Hey Koko, it looks like they've stopped shooting. Want me to just put some rounds in their tires and we leave them out here?"

There was a bit of lengthy pause on the comms.

" _Not a good idea Damien, I figured out why they stopped."_ Tojo then came on the net instead, with unease in his voice.

"What's going on?" I asked and Koko answered for him.

" _Oh damn it! Wiley! They've got a human bomb to our south! It looks like they kidnapped somebody and strapped C4 to him."_

I immediately readjusted myself so that I was back to my original position. Sure enough as I looked through my scope was a plainly dressed man, scared out of his mind, with several blocks of C4 strapped to his chest. I also noticed a few cut's and bruises on his face and arms. It looked like he wasn't doing this willingly.

" _Understood. I'm on my way back. Mao, Ugo, meet me at the front of the convoy. Damien I need you too."_

"What? Why?"

" _I'll explain when you get up here, just trust me. Move!"_

Deciding not to argue any further and just react, I grabbed my ACR and hopped off the truck to the secure side of the convoy. I then made my way to the front, moving quickly in between the gaps of the trucks. As I got there I saw Mao and Ugo dart off with Nazal of all people to the mound where the IED had gone off. I kneeled down next to Wiley behind the truck engine.

"So? What's the plan?"

"Were not letting those bastards get away with killing an innocent man or getting us to make an easy solution."

I knew what he had in mind and I was not liking where it was going.

"The moment they see us try to take that bomb off of him they'll blow him to pieces, and us with it. And what the hell do you need me for anyway!?"

"As painful as this is to admit, my Arabic is only basic. I need you to get him to do what you say and I'll handle the rest."

I looked at him as if he thought I had "Suicidal" written all over my face. But then he shook my shoulder hard.

"Are you going to let them hurt Koko!?" He shouted.

Suddenly I knew what was at stake. This was something that came with the job, sometimes you have to step into harms way. And these guys decided to fuck with us, they decided to fuck with Koko.

"Not a chance. I got your back man."

With a quick nod, he moved out away from the convoy and I followed. We stayed out of sight from what was left of Excalibur and moved at a fast crouch along the road to where the man with the s-vest was slowly walking toward the convoy with his hands raised. I heard him muttering prayers in Arabic, wondering how in the hell this had happened to him. He wasn't the first victim in Iraq that was forced to do something like this, but I don't think anyone would believe that someone that was supposed to be fighting the insurgents would do the same thing they would. As we then crawled to get a little closer, Wiley motioned to me with a hand signal to go for the deep ditch off the side of the road. I almost never got nervous, but my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I was more than capable of handling C4 but I just put it together with either det-cord or a remote detonator on it the simple way and just pushed the button. That shit doesn't care what it blows up so being right next to it was not something I was looking forward too. As we got to the ditch, Wiley turned and whispered to me.

"When he gets right above us. Let him know to fake a trip and fall towards us."

I took a deep breath. There was no way to hide that I was scared out of my mind. But I had a job to do, I didn't have the option of failing.

"The moment he disappears from sight you're gonna have about five seconds for them to figure out that something went wrong. Another three for them to get the detonator and hit the switch."

William just looked at me with same cool persona he usually had. If he was as scared as I was, he did a fucking phenomenal job of hiding it. But he was the pro, I trusted him to keep us and the victim alive.

"Like I said, I'll handle it."

And so we waited, but he wouldn't take too long judging from his distance to us. I didn't want to think about it, but if the worst was gonna happen, I made one last call to make sure I had no regrets.

"Sophia. I'll be back soon. Please wait for me."

I then shut off my radio the moment I was done talking. As I did he was right over us, now it was all or nothing.

"Ya hadha."

(Hey you.)

He then looked towards the two of us. Shocked that we were this close to him.

"Yataeathar w yasqatu. Aitajih nahuana!" I said motioning with my hand.

(Trip and fall. Roll towards us!)

"Hal 'ant mjnwn? Sawf tanfajir hadhih alqunbala!"

(Are you crazy? This bomb will explode!)

"Hadha ln yahduth faqat thaqa bina!"

(That won't happen just trust us!)

He knew his options were limited, but he chose the chance of surviving and did his best to trip by accident and rolled towards us. In the process my heart literally stopped and I started to feel cold, Wiley however did what he was best at, not even flinching.

With wire cutters in hand he gently felt around the vest looking for, what I assumed, would be anything that would set it off. The man that had on the s-vest had his eyes shut tightly, teeth gritted, and was shaking. After God knows how many seconds, Wiley froze, and with a few quick snips removed a older model cell phone and tossed it to the side.

"Ok it's no longer able to be detonated by remote. Just tell him to hold still cause I need to disarm the trigger so this vest won't blow."

I let out a deep sigh of relief. The victim in the s-vest looked toward the masked me with hope in his eyes, I let him know he was right in his assumption.

"'Ant satakun bikhayr. Faqat daeah yantahi."

(You're going to be alright. Just let him finish.)

He then smiled and looked like he was about to cry.

"Shukraan lakum! Shukraan jazilana!"

(Thank you! Thank you so much!)

Suddenly the phone which was the supposed detonator started to ring, as I was looking at it I smiled underneath my mask. Excalibur had no more cards left to play.

"Ha. Leave a message. Get back to the convoy. I got this."

"Don't need to tell me twice you crazy coyote!" I said scuttling away from him as fast as I could.

As I got back to the convoy, there was only one person I needed to see. She was crouched behind the fifth truck with her Mk46. As I walked towards her she turned around to see me take off my helmet and balaclava while kneeling next to her.

"What are you-"

I didn't even her the chance to finish as I held her face and kissed her. As I then rested my forehead on hers I was still out of breath. I just wanted to be next to her.

"Are you feeling ok?" She asked with concern.

"Well, I'm gonna need a clean pair of briefs."

"Yeah you're ok." She said knowing what she expected out of me.

"Aww, where's the concern for me Damien?" Koko said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me toward her.

I just rolled with it. The day was stressful enough as it was.

"Sorry I went dark there for a few moments Koko. Did you guys get the rest of them?"

"Not yet. Head back to your position and make sure they stay where they are."

Sophia then smiled and nodded me in the direction of where I needed to go. When I went to grab my helmet though I saw two injured men three trucks up with Mao and Ugo guarding them and Nazal speaking to them. I recognized one of them though, it seems as though Excalibur's chief, Turner, had survived the blast. I didn't want to make a quick assumption right off the bat but I don't think he was hiding it anymore when he had to have made a deal with Koko. Knowing she wouldn't answer me directly I went back to my truck, got back on top to my sniper rife, kept an eye on the pick ups, and then got on the radio to talk to him. I didn't care if the channel was open or not.

"Nazal, taqra?"

(Nazal, you read?)

" _Nem fiela?"_

(Yes?)

"Ma hi laebatuk fi kl hdha?"

(What's your game in all of this?)

" _Mahma kan aldhy taenih?"_

(Whatever do you mean?)

I then let my Arabic slip. He must have thought I was another thug.

"I don't got time for this shit. I know what you really are. What makes you think we won't just shoot you or hand your ass over to the Americans?"

He chuckled. _"Because I made a deal with Miss Hekmatyar and we both agreed on the terms."_

"And?"

" _There was a personal gain I had to make regarding Excalibur. She would have compensated for me but the person in Excalibur I needed for some financial benefit survived, so it worked out better than she had anticipated. In return we would give you a proper escort to where you need to go, free of charge."_

"Hold up. Who's 'We'"?

" _We'll have a few black SUV's coming from the East in about 15 minutes Damien. They're not hostiles so don't worry."_ Koko had said interjecting, probably letting me know not to worry about it.

She wouldn't need to though. This would be considered hypocritical of me. In the last ten years the views in between American's and Middle Easterners have not been favorable. Since Koko did not discriminate on who she did business with, it was just a matter of time before we came across an Arab or Muslim group. The reason why it would be hypocritical for me was because of a short stay in Palestine where I was the bodyguard for the teenage child of a high ranking Hamas member. Only thing though was that I found out he was Hamas after the job was done. In my somewhat panicked state I only asked that instead of money would be some influence to get some other people to look away or pretend I was never there.

"Ok then. Just let me know when they get close. In the mean time, what are we gonna do about these clowns?"

" _I got an idea. Everyone hold your fire. No matter what you see."_

It was Wiley that time. I knew I should let him have his moment because I had had enough so far for today with the possibility of getting blown to smithereens. Anything more stressful and my hair would have turned greyer than Lehms.

Speaking of that, after waiting for a few minutes, I took a band out of my pocket and put it in a ponytail. I then put my helmet back on and didn't bother with the balaclava, since I don't think Nazal would care who I was or not. After scanning my sector I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye when I wasn't looking through my scope. Whoever it was, was hobbling along looking injured getting closer to where the rest of Excalibur was. I then peered through my scope and saw that it was Turner, but what shocked me was what he was wearing. The suicide vest that was on that civilian. But what was weird though was that it looked like there were more blocks of C4 on it.

"What in the hell?"

He then got to where the last two pick ups were at. I just managed to make one gesture, probably to get them to take off the vest.

They never got the chance.

The blast that erupted was so large that both trucks flew in opposite directions of each other and debris was landing about fifteen feet from the convoy. I then got on one knee and looked back up it to where some of the crew were looking, but I was looking for one person, Wiley. From all the way where I was in the back I could see his big toothy grin, a bit to excited from his most recent achievement.

" _That's the last of them guys. We'll wait until Nazal's people show up and once we get to Nasiriyah we'll be done for the day."_

 _Sorry Koko but two of us have one last thing to discuss._

 **1815 Hours**

 **Nasiriyah**

After the formalities had been done with the city's engineers, that were under the armed guard of US Troops, we were in a secure enough location that we didn't need to worry about the trucks anymore and we could relax. The innocent civilian was handed off to the American's, with a generous sum from us to keep quiet, to take to his home. Nazal had what he needed and left us with two of his SUV's so we could get to Ali Air Base. The reconstruction of this portion of the city where the school was being rebuilt was being worked on night and day. The Iraqi's still wanted to keep the image that everything was ok around here but reality tended to disagree, as I had experienced it earlier today. As Koko and the others were going about their business I mentioned to Wiley that I needed to talk to him alone and out of sight of everyone. I needed it to be that in order to get my point across. This crew had done so much for me, so I had to do the same for them in return. We got behind a high stack of concrete pipes and I set my weapon down, along with taking off my balaclava and helmet, to let him know I was serious.

"What's going on Damien?" Wiley asked curiously.

"Just want to see if you're doing alright. Holding steady?" I asked with my hands on my hips.

"I'm doing fine, no need to worry."

"Ok good, good, good. Cause I need to make sure you have enough time to sleep this OFF!"

I then let out a fast and wild haymaker which knocked his glasses off along with his weapon out of his hands and him off of his feet. He then looked at me from the ground clutching the side of his face in anger. I laxed my form to the point where he at least would know that was my only punch. Even though I towered over almost everyone in the crew, he didn't care because we were the same caliber of soldier. He got up quick and grabbed the collar of my vest and pulled me towards him with his teeth gritting.

"You mind telling me what the fuck that was for!?"

I then grabbed his wrist. Just in case if he decided to throw a punch, I didn't want this to get any nastier.

"An explosives expert is just what it means. A professional and nothing more. A bomber is someone that blows shit up cause they got issues! I don't recall working with Timothy fucking McVeigh! I saw your expression after that blast."

As I explained that to him in my deep growling tone. His expression changed dramatically, almost as if he was ashamed. He then loosened his grip on my vest and I let go of his wrist.

"I'm sorry Damien. I really am. I always lose it every time in comes to pyro and I don't know why. But please don't see me as someone like that. Cause you know that's not the real me."

I was glad he knew that he knew where I was coming from. I then kneeled down and picked up his glasses and ACR for him.

"I know it's not man. And trust me those assholes deserved their ironic punishment. That doesn't give you the excuse to just copy what they did. Cause R once told me that there was a reason Koko chose all of us." I then held out his rifle and glasses. "We cool?"

He smirked and took them both.

And then came a jab to my nose.

"OW!" He hit me harder than I thought but I wasn't bleeding.

"Now were cool." He said in his smooth tone.

"Ok were even." I said as I grabbed my stuff and we walked back to where the rest of the crew was at.

They were getting in the SUV's when we got back. Koko then saw us both as we split off from each other to get into different ones. Her smile on her as usual, a bit more chipper now that her deal went through.

"What were you two talking about?" She asked.

"Just discussing on how we both can be better."

I knew the expression on her face on what she was about to do next. So when she hugged me I took my free arm and wrapped it around her.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Taking off that stupid mask."

She was right. I didn't put it back on when I was done talking to him. But if she was happy and didn't hear that brief exchange of fists that was fine with me. But someone was getting jealous as I heard an expression of disapproval from behind me.

"Am I interrupting cause we have to go Damien."

"Ok Valmet. But before we go Damien, you were right." Koko said before I could say anything.

"About what?" I asked.

"How dare they refer them to grenades, those ARE nuclear warheads." She said with a mischievous look.

It took me a few moments but I realized that Koko was pranking both of us the whole time. Sophia then got that look in her eye again.

 _Crap._


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38: Pen and Sword**

 **November 20** **th** **2010 0720 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Fruition,**_ **The Indian Ocean**

Our current heading was south, probably back to Port Elizabeth again, by tomorrow we'd be passing in between Madagascar and the continent. The open sea was starting to get colder, it only got warmer when we got closer to shore so it looked like I wasn't going to be running on the deck for a while. It was actually still dark when I decided to set up three targets at the bow of the ship. As I was looking up from the deck, with my Toy Box and a small folding table in tow, I saw that there was a heavy gray overcast but it didn't look like it was gonna rain. I was in the clear for about an hour or so until I had to make breakfast.

It was always good to keep the practice up but I don't think my shooting skills were going to be perishable anytime soon. As I finished laying out the clips of 5.56 and .45 caliber I took out my HK416, it hadn't really seen much use since I switched over to my ACR. That didn't mean it had seen use, period. It, along with a few other of my weapons, had seen their fair share of use and abuse with scratches, dings, chipped paint, and worn plastic. It was down to its basic shell though since I put all my accessories on my ACR. I just put a fore grip on it and decided to go for iron sights today. Each weapon I had, had been in a fight and had taken a life. But at least no violence would be here today. I wrapped my hair in a ponytail, put on my ear muffs, and loaded my first mag. I was only firing in single shot for now and each mag had only three shots, just to make sure I didn't need to adjust the sights and that my grouping was tight. Then I would put one of my holo sights on it and practice with a full mag.

After marking my first grouping with a marker I decided to see how fast I could get a double tap on each of the three targets. But as I was loading the mag, I got two pulls on my hair.

"Ding, ding!"

Koko was behind me. Dressed in casual fall ware that was appropriate for this time of year.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"You blasting that metal in the gym this morning woke me up."

Total lie. It wasn't on THAT loud. But since we all had to do something to occupy our time on here I handed here my rifle and motioned with my head down range if she wanted to give it a shot. After putting on my extra set of ear muffs she took it like it was instinct. Checking to see if the chamber was clear, loading the mag, slapping the bolt forward and using the proper stance all in a continuously fluid motion.

It didn't really surprise me when she loaded one of my three shot mags and put two in the heart and one in the head on the paper targets down range making it look absurdly easy.

"I was gonna see how good your grouping was but that works too."

"The frame has a bit of a rattle, I suggest you get it tightened up." She said handing it back to me. Her observation very much correct.

"Huh. I'll put it on my to do list."

"What else do you have in here?" She said sticking her head in my weapons crate.

"Hey. No touching my junk."

"Wow, you're not much for subtlety Damien. I've never touched you there." She said with her fingers to her lips.

I immediately regretted my choice of words. I should have known better that if I came up with opportunities to screw with everyone, she would too. I just rolled my eyes and did my best to not look like an idiot.

"Hey this isn't what I think it is, is it?" She said holding up a black plastic case, it wasn't my .44 Magnum.

"Something wrong Koko?"

"I gave you these Sig Sauer's for a reason Damien." She opened it up, confused on what she was looking at. "The damn thing's still wrapped in its plastic."

"Never really was a big fan of 9mm. Just too…standard." I said playing it off.

"Ugh. How does Valmet put up with you?"

"I'm just that adorable." I said to her with probably a look that was a bit too smug.

"Huggability level of a box of kittens aside, I told you why I wanted everyone to use the same type of round."

Putting aside the fact of trying to figure out guy my intimidating size with scars, tattoos, and having a voice that more often or not sounded like a rabid dog was classified as huggable, I couldn't just cast aside the two most reliable tools I had used in the last two and a half years. I had asked the dealer that I bought them from to specifically be ordered from Colt Manufacturing. He managed to come up with a pair of them, modified so that they would ensure maximum comfort for the shooter. Such as a lighter trigger pull, ring hammer, extended thumb safety, deep checkered grip, and a three dot glow sight. The fact that both of them were all black just added a bit of style.

"Everyone has something that distinguishes them from the rest of the squad. Lutz has his rifle, Sophia has her knife, Ugo has his Desert Eagle, and I got these." I said holding both of them.

"You think you're Chow Yun Fat?" She asked.

I chuckled. "I'm not THAT awesome."

"Wow. You finally admit that you're not the best of the best."

"Hey now, I'm not full of hot air like Lehm. I know I have limits."

"Really? Cause your jackass meter doesn't seem to have one."

This was one of those moments to see if one of us could out wit the other. But more often than not it continued on a never ending loop of the two of us just acting silly. It was also too early for this shit. I also knew that this was one of those moments she wanted to be alone with me. Some say that she keeps to herself more than I do, but there's a reason why I was trained to read people.

"Y'all need anything from me little lady?" I said with a bit of a dip into my southern roots.

"Since you asked, the holidays are right around the corner. At the end of the year I like to treat my team to something rather special. A congratulations on a successful year and not just another way to celebrate HCLI's economics report. Is there anything that you haven't done yet or anyplace you haven't gone?"

The answer was obvious, but I knew that that wasn't what she was asking. It did surprise me that the end of the year was coming up. Time does pass rather quickly when you blow shit up and bullets fly up your ass. But this was a hard question she was asking. I didn't have anything I wanted to do, it was more along the lines of need.

"Eh. Whatever you guys have planned I'll just tag along." I said as I loaded my first pistol.

"Oh come on!" She then lunged at me. "You're not gonna be just another face in the crowd. Especially now that I know how good you can dance."

"You know the safety on this thing was off!?"

"Don't change the subject! I'm not letting go until you tell me what you wanna do!"

Very relived that my gun didn't go off, I cleared my head and thought for a few seconds. I already had been all around the planet and spending the New Year and Christmas in someplace tropical sounded a little too easy and predictable. But there was one thing I need to get done though, I just didn't know how to do it.

"How bout this? Let me get back to you on something to do. But there is something I'd like you to get for me. Or if it's too hard to find, make."

"Make? Something special you want to modify one of your guns with?"

"No. Something for people with disabilities." I said smiling to her and she then let me go.

"Ok. But that will be for later. But there _is_ something I need to talk to you about, well prepare for anyway."

It was where we were heading and who would be there. I knew what she wanted to remind me about, I'd just have to listen. And pray that _she_ didn't hold a grudge as bad as I did.

 **November 24** **th** **2010 0900 Hours**

 **The Hillsides North of Kirkwood, South Africa**

After our arrival in Port Elizabeth yesterday we made a lengthy trip outside of the city of Kirkwood where Professor Amada's toy company, Marchen, had a new factory set up. Before we had arrived Koko had briefed us on board the _Fruition_ that we were to see the end result of hard work and investment and that this was one of the things that were the fruits of their labors. We didn't really celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the ship since not all of us were American and quite frankly, me, Ugo, Lehm, and Wiley didn't really care. I'm not what you would call a businessman, but it's a simple understanding when that there's a demand for something you have to supply it. You also have to have the means to construct said supply and this was another piece in the business empire that was HCLI. The name Marchen though was somewhat familiar to me. In the boring moments on the job when I had to do paperwork, it came up kind of frequently. Koko had put a lot of time and investments into this new building and it brought me back to something I was trying to figure out earlier in the year. What her fancy project was, the so called "New World".

If this place was a 100% toy factory then I'm a fucking astronaut. From first glance it looked like your average run of the mill office building. But what was a dead giveaway that it was something more was that the place was surrounded by high concrete walls with barbed wire on top and security camera's all over the place. What kind of put me on edge a bit was that when we walked past the security checkpoint I got a brief glance of an M4 that looked like it was deliberately hidden. The guards did wear security uniforms and looked like average guys that were at their regular day job. But being a Green Beret, I could tell by the looks in their eye's that they were trained professionals. Real ones, not the wannabe vets like I had seen an infinite time over in my travels around the world. Whatever was really in there, only Koko and Dr. Miami knew about it. As they both introduced it to the audience of the crew and Amada's staff.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let's hear it for the successful completion of Marchen's newly completed factory!"

Their audience let out a polite applause while Lehm and I just stood there looking indifferent. While everyone else was clapping he lit his next cigarette and I just pulled the zipper up a bit more on my black leather jacket. It was much colder out today than it was earlier in the year when we first came here to get Amada. The bizarre part though was the amount of nonchalant aura that was circulating around us. Considering the fact that someone from the now defunct Tashinhai Trading Company, aka PLA front company, was with us and was trying to move in on whatever Koko was building out here. I remember about what Hinoki said about Koko being practical and seeing the bottom line but it was still very hard for me to understand that. But I was only in this particular life for little more than two years now, it looked like I still had a lot to learn.

"This new facility would have never had existed without the generous contributions from me, Koko Hekmatyar. Or the technical genius of Marchen's head of research and development as well as my best friend Minami."

Minami then stepped forward to be on the metaphorical pedestal. But her praise was a little more indifferent.

"It also has a hot spring for those long days at the office."

"What!? You changed the blueprints without telling me again?" Koko said surprised.

"I can't focus or come up with idea's if I don't get a good soak first."

"MINAMI!"

As Koko then started to chew her friend out, I caught something out of the corner of my eye as I was looking over the building. It was brief, but it looked like that there was some kind of shine out in the hills.

"Hmm."

"Everything alright?" Lehm asked.

"Ever get the feeling you're being watched?" I said ignoring Koko and Minami bicker in the background.

 **0820 Hours**

 **London, United Kingdom**

"Fuck. I feel exactly just like the weather out here."

Rain and cold notwithstanding, the year so far had panned out to be a little more stressful than Scarecrow wanted it to be. In his quest to try and take down Koko Hekmatyar he had let his other cases slack. He had been up all night on his computer trying to find any anomalies in the financial transactions of a supposed drug dealer out of Amsterdam that didn't work within his countries already lax laws on drugs and sex. As he then finished up his fifth cup of coffee his satellite phone then began to ring, he recognized the number.

"What Schokolade?" He said annoyed from the fact it was her as well as lack of sleep.

" _Jeez I'm just calling in like you wanted me to. I thought you wanted to know everything about what's going on with Dr. Miami?"_

"I do have other cases to worry about. I can't spend all my time on her."

" _Well this might jolt you awake. Koko and Professor Amada are opening their new Marchen facility."_

It did jolt him awake. So much so that he spat his coffee out and dropped his cup while jumping up from his chair.

"WHEN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN!?" He shouted.

" _Ouch! You don't need to yell. But yeah, she and her whole crew of badasses are here."_

"Well get a recording of SOMETHING from them! This could be our big break."

" _How the hell am I supposed to do that? Planting bug's takes time. And I only found out about this just yesterday evening."_

Scarecrow then groaned in frustration while rubbing his already bloodshot eyes.

"Oh for Christ's sakes. Just work your charms on that big guy, you know that one Koko likes to latch herself onto? A stupid pretty boy like him will fall head over heels for a bimbo like you. Then he'll tell you anything. You won't even need to put a bug on him."

"…"

There was a bit of lengthy period of silence on the other side. Scarecrow never once cared about if other's saw him as cocky or not. But he did have a job to do.

"Hey! You hear me!?" He shouted.

" _His name is Damien."_ She said with some respect for him. _"While he IS a bit of a stud, he's anything but stupid. Koko told me all about him. I'll call you back if I get anything. You idiot."_

She then hung up on him before he could say anything leaving him baffled. It was like she transformed from bimbo to seasoned agent in a heartbeat. But putting that aside, Koko had jumped ahead of him a few steps. So much so that there was another person of interest would definitely call him asking for a favor on some information.

It didn't take long as his phone rang again.

"Aw fuck me." He said before he pressed the answer button.

" _Hello Scarecrow, you're on that side of the world. Mind telling me what Koko Hekmatyar's doing in South Africa so soon?"_

Scarecrow could tell from the sound of his voice that he expected to get a call from him and that he wanted answers. Hopefully he could just blow him off but that wouldn't cut it with Bookman.

"Sorry Chief Black. That's not my department and I don't work for you."

" _Just answer the damn question you arrogant moron."_ Bookman said without changing his tone.

He sighed heavily. "Ok fine. I don't know. All I know is that Hekmatyar and her squad are at this new toy factory. Normally there's a group of PMC thugs guarding the place. And you'd be right in assuming that the place is more than a toy factory but the only one that's been going in or out so far is Professor Amada. Now since I'm a nice guy, I'll keep investigating and let you know if I get a break. Okay?"

" _I appreciate that. Looking forward to hearing from you soon."_ He then hung up.

Scarecrow then fell back into his chair looking up at the ceiling.

"Oh God. Sometimes I hate this job. Now I got caught up in Bookman's 'Under Shaft'."

 **0955 Hours**

 **Marchen's New Factory, South Africa**

Dr. Miami's "inspection" was taking a little longer than the few minutes that she was supposed to be gone. Koko was just waiting outside the entrance with Lehm and Sophia while the other's were busy just chatting. There was one more thing I had to do while I was out here or Koko would have chewed me out later, so I had to do it. I couldn't believe I had to make up with someone who had pissed me off more than her brother did. But like before, she did have a way with words and she had reason and encouragement behind them.

" _Be better than what you were."_ We her exact words.

Karen Low was just staring off into the hills by herself away from everyone else. I don't think she even looked at anyone else since we had arrived. Physical attractiveness and posture aside, she had steel gaze in her eyes that signified that she had grit. Either it was new or she always had it. I didn't really pay much attention to it when I fired seven shot's into her chest or dominated her on board the _Fruition._

"How's the arm?" I asked as normally as I could.

Her dark grey eyes slightly widened in surprise as she recognized my voice. As she turned her head to me, she had the same stare she had with me a few months ago. Along with a scar just above the nose from when I broke it. I was almost expecting her to snarl, but I held my posture with my hands in my pockets doing my best to not come off as a threat.

"Thanks to you I can't fully extend it anymore. You ripped several tendon's and I had to have it cut open to have it completely repaired."

The way she said it was agitated but not furious. It looked like it was still hurting considering the fact every now and then since we got here she was gripping it and had a slight wince whenever she must have hit something tender.

 _Good._

I had to keep the conversation going since I couldn't just leave it at that. As well as keep my personal thoughts to myself.

"How and why did Professor Amada make you a member of her team?"

There was hesitation before she answered, naturally she would be on her guard considering our last encounter didn't pan out too well for her.

"She picked me up on the street in Port Elizabeth one day not too long after your little rampage. As for why, I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Hmm. Not really that surprising to me. Koko once told me that Amada and her share pretty much the same thought process. So I expect weird shit to pop outta nowhere or just happen to our convenience. Despite it being difficult to comprehend."

"I agree. Working for her has become a bit of an eye-opening experience. But what was weird though was that she said to me that incidents like the one that happened between Tashinhai and HCLI wouldn't matter in the long run after the Doctor's and Miss Hekmatyar's plan is completed."

"The new world?"

"Yes." She said with a straight face. She had to have known that I knew since Koko and Amada were so obsessed with it.

"Well now, isn't this a pleasant change of pace?"

We both turned to see Dr. Miami approaching us both, with bug nets and an insect cage in tow.

"Karen why don't you get a car started and we'll go out for a little butterfly hunt?"

"Doctor? What about the factory tour?" Low asked.

"It's alright Koko won't mind. Plus _he'll_ get bored stiff and I want to get to know him."

Wondering why she was interested in me, Low walked away I then looked down at the Professor. Lit cigarette in her mouth like Lehm but had a chipper smile.

"I know we've met before but Koko has told me so much about you already Damien. So let me make a formal introduction, Minami Amada." She said extending her hand.

"Konichiwa." I said while taking it.

"Oh please, no need to be THAT polite Damien. I speak perfect English." She said unfazed by the fact her own hand was almost lost in mine.

 **1020 Hours**

 **Inthaba Lodge Game Farm**

After a short drive we were walking along a path that oversaw the rolling hills of the several game reserves that were dotted sporadically around all of Africa. If Amada was as obsessed over bugs as I thought she was, she knew that there was no way there was anything flying around out here this late in the year. It would have been easier for her to say 'Hey I want to talk you alone' rather than drag us out to the middle of nowhere. The scenery was rather nice out though considering the fact that Fall was ending and Winter was coming. A bit of a balanced mix of green and tan, along with blue of the river that laid at the bottom of the opposing valley.

"Koko told me that you're quite the conversationalist Damien but you've been awfully quiet. Something on your mind?"

"Just wondering why your doing your bug hunt in cold weather."

"Hmm. Well what were you and Karen discussing?"

"Discussing on how she ended up working for you." I said as I tucked my own net under my arm and put my hand back in my pocket.

"As well as what happened after he partially crippled my right arm." Low said with contempt while looking directly ahead.

 _Trust me bitch I'm trying real fucking hard not to throw you off the next cliff we pass as well._

Dr. Miami though just turned her head to her front again as if nothing happened. Walking along without a care in the world.

"Well don't worry about it too much Damien, the past is the past. Besides Karen's one tough cookie."

I heard rumors from the guys that Minami was a bit of a nut and it was proving to be more and more true. I wondered if she would really say that after someone put a round in her chest or try to kill a friend. She then stretched her arms above her head.

"But you're right, I don't see a single bug out here. There's a rather nice scenic view just up ahead, lets take a break. Did you bring that camera of yours? Koko said you've taken up photography."

"No I didn't. Besides it's more along the lines of collecting memories."

"Shame. You would have had a nice shot."

Upon reaching a cliff the two of them sat down and I just stood. I didn't really wanna get my jeans dirty, they were brand new. Her analysis was on point, it was a nice view. The same though could not be said for who I was enjoying the view with but the situation was starting to become more like a mild annoyance like the sun being in my eyes if I was driving. I didn't really catch it on the nose but I think I figured out why Minami was out here with just me and Karen. Koko had to have asked her to see if I would really hold true to my word about not seeing the world as black and white. To put what happened between Low and myself behind me and not finish what I started when I met her again on the _Fruition_. It wasn't easy dealing with it, but this was also the same type of situation with Kasper. The big difference thought was that I wasn't appealing to anybody's wallet. The best way I could describe it was appealing to either dignity or pride.

I don't think that was something that I would ever be able to get used to. But Koko seems to do it all the time and the scary part was that she was doing this when I was just living my life as a normal teenage army brat. Koko may like to keep parts of her past secret, but I managed to get a little more from her father see as how someone like me came into HCLI's employment it raised a big flag. But I had a feeling Amada knew her on a more intimate level, probably even more than Sophia.

"Professor Amada..."

"Damien please, it's Minami. Anyone that's THAT close to Koko is a friend of mine." She said cutting me off.

I rolled my eyes and looked to the robotics expert. Flicking her cigarette away as she adjusted her glasses.

"I need to ask you a question."

"Sure! I'll answer anything you want. With one exception of course."

I knew what she meant but I wasn't gonna ask that anyway.

"Don't worry it's not about your science project. It's about Koko."

"Ok. What about her?"

"How has someone like her managed to achieve what she has done?"

"You mean her genius talent in arms dealing?" The butterfly expert said.

"Not just that. But the time in which she has done it as well as her influence on, dare I say it, a world scale. Valmet told me that she's known her for about seven years. I know for a fact that she's younger than me but not by more than a few years. Christ, if I'm doing the math right then by the time I was just starting to go to West Point with a few hundred bucks in my pocket she was already making multi-million dollar arms deals in everything from bullets to cruise missiles. I get it that it's her family's business but in as far as levels of authority go, I don't see any difference between her and her father, Floyd."

She let out a light chuckle. "Koko does give off surprises like that whenever people first come across her. But how she does it is not as complicated as you might think. Sure she's a brilliant businesswoman, but do you really think that people that range from heads of criminal organizations to high ranking government officials buy from her just because she's the daughter of a notorious shipping tycoon?"

"Names and blood still hold their weight in gold nowadays, regardless of what the average logical person thinks."

"Well that's not true as far a Koko's concerned. She succeeds in what she does, because she excels at earning peoples trust."

Granted child geniuses are nothing new but from witnessing what Koko was capable of since I started working for her it made sense. And Minami was right, it wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be. Any more and I would be really overthinking it. The same though could not be said for certain world power's that see her as a threat. History had shown that those that had gathered more power than they should have, get a lot of unwanted attention and think that they are beyond the law.

"You know that what the both of you are doing is making a lot of people curious. Some even nervous."

"Oh, we've been dealing with that for quite a while now. You know the old saying, if you want to keep a secret then don't tell anybody. But you know what, it's funny you would mention that, cause I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"What do you want for dinner tonight?"

It took me a moment to contemplate why she was asking that.

"Excuse me?"

 **1730 Hours**

 **Pot D'Argile Restaurant, Port Elizabeth**

Turns out that there was another group in South Africa that had gotten wind of Marchen's new factory opening ahead of everyone else and had wanted to see what the real deal was. They had called Minami the day before we had arrived and wanted to discuss business after the factory was opened. They had to have known that Koko was here but she was going to give the same answer Minami was going to give. This had to be another part of her little test to make sure I was behaving properly. She didn't really mind that much when we got back to the factory that Minami asked her if she could let me come to dinner with her. But it also appeared that she wanted me to be a liaison for her whenever we had our meeting tonight.

Rival companies tend to monitor everything their competitor does. Transactions, profit margins, and especially employees. They knew that if I was there, then they might as well had to have been speaking to Koko herself. Edward Currie of CCAT didn't bother questioning on why I was there along Dr. Miami and Low. He and his bodyguards had sat opposite of us. Well for now it was just Lou, Mildo squealed in excitement when she saw that I was there, wrapping her arms around me and rubbing her head against me like a dog. She didn't even let go when the appetizers came in or when Minami and Currie were just talking shop. But when my filet came in, it had to stop.

"Can you please sit in your own seat? I'd like to eat my steak in peace."

"Aww! Can't I feed you?"

"Mildo, leave the poor man alone. You're starting to act like a leech." Currie said with a tone that the real part of this meeting was going to start.

 _God I really got to find some way to stop being a magnet for bad women._

She then went back to her seat with a frown as the waiters brought out our food. Minami let out a soft laugh.

"I take it you've seen this happen to him before Dr. Amada?"

"Not directly. Koko told me that this happens to him rather frequently. Anyway, I appreciate the meal and being able to have a night on the town but I don't think I will be able to give you anything in return. Don't ask if I can design a weapon for you because I won't do it. But I know that you're not stupid enough to ask that."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Alright, let's cut to the chase Mr. Currie wants to know why you and Koko opened that new toy factory you opened."

"Mildo for God sake will you please shut your mouth." Currie said with his hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry doctor that's not what we wanted to talk to you about in the least. But granted I'd be lying if I wasn't curious."

"Then why the fuck did we just make a ten hour flight for?" Mildo demanded.

Being blunt got me direct results. Maybe being my old self would get her to back off.

"Wow you have the perfect combination of not having a filter and be as dense as a block of iron. No wonder when Valmet kicks your ass, she makes it look easy."

She looked away frustrated and defeated, that shut her up for now.

"Thank you Mr. Andrushko." Currie said.

"Don't sweat it."

"There is one thing that concerns me though. The markets ability to support mid-sized dealers like myself."

Minami paused as she was about to light up her next cigarette. I wasn't focusing on it but that was my next clue to whatever the hell Minami and Koko were putting together. I had called it earlier today, it was gathering a lot of attention and worrying certain people and I doubt that it was just Currie.

"Well let's start with this, how did you start CCAT?"

"Bought a freighter when I retired from the RAF. Not too long after the Cold War ended and struck while the iron was hot in small arms dealings."

"You were a pilot?" I asked.

"Tornado flyer, boy. Flew during the Falklands and Desert Storm with eight confirmed kills." He said a little too proud.

"And because of your record and charisma other military officers, not all of them British, lent you their planes and runways because they knew what you was really doing and wanted to start making investments, hoping for a solid return."

"I'm flattered by the comments but your making what I do seem somewhat nefarious. Mind if I ask how you know that?"

"Koko told me." She said blowing smoke to the ceiling, being polite. "I take it from your first question is that your struggling a bit and I don't blame you. Fuel costs in EVERYTHING have been on the rise in recent years. What do I want to bet that your spending more in shipping your weapons then you are making a profit from them? And since you mentioned Cold War era weapons, there's been a shift in demand. Weapons like that are going to guerrilla groups and terrorists rather than state armies and with the advancements in technology governments are investing in ways to kill their enemies without putting their own soldiers at risk."

Putting it simply, asymmetrical warfare was putting guys like Currie out of business.

"Mr. Currie! I won't stand for her trying to get to you!" Mildo shouted while standing from her seat.

"Mildo! I told you enough!"

It was good that we were in a private room or else she would have made a scene. I was kinda enjoying my filet mignon and I didn't want to get booted out of the restaurant. I wondered why Currie kept her around, it's like she's stuck in fucking puberty. But Minami held firm in her statements.

"I don't know. This could get pretty rough for him, I'm just letting him know so that he doesn't get sideswiped."

"Listen Doc," Mildo said gritting through her teeth. "keep talking and you'll get your skull bashed in."

"MILDO!"

As the former fighter pilot was continuing to fail to get her to calm down I saw that Low was slowing reaching for her sidearm. This shit was not gonna get bloody on my watch, so it looked like it was time to go to work again. I set my fork down and stood up calmly while taking off my leather jacket.

"Karen, don't even think about it." I then addressed both sides of the table. "Mr. Currie, Professor Amada, please continue your discussion. I will make sure that the lady no longer causes any more outbursts."

I walked to the other side of the table and stood, or should say towered, over Mildo. Her next move would either benefit her or cost her.

"Listen love, just because I think you're hot doesn't mean I won't stomp you into the ground while the doctor continues her little soapbox rant. Your height and all that muscle mean sweet fuck all to me, I've dealt with brutes like yourself more than once."

Clear and classic case of underestimating your opponent.

"If you were struggling against Sophia when she wasn't even trying, you stand no chance against me. Sit down and calm down."

She didn't believe that I had called her out like that but she also had a puzzled look on her face. Granted she didn't know about me and her, looks like I let that one slip.

"Hold up, how can you say Valmet's real name so casually?"

"I'm not gonna ask again. Sit down before you get spanked."

The gears were turning in her head. So much so that I could hear them creak. But what came next meant I had to make my point stand. You raise your voice, and if it doesn't do you any good then it's time to raise your hand.

"Oh my God!" She then bursted into a laughing fit. "You and her!? I never imagined she'd get her own real life fuck stick! I'll bet…"

I didn't even let her finish as I reached for her head. It was a shame though, they were rather really nice aviators. I noticed that the maker was Ray-Ban just before I crushed them with my bare hand and dropped the twisted frames and pieces of the lens' on the floor. It finally clicked on her that I was serious.

"You've done it now." She said looking at me with anger in her eyes.

She then lashed out with a big swing but I quickly stepped to the side while catching her arm. I then looped it around her back and kicked her leg out so that she was only on one knee. Using my weight to my advantage I let myself fall on top of her, pinning her to the floor.

"Go on Minami." I said as I adjusted myself to where I could begin my literal punishment on Mildo.

 **SMACK!** "OW!"

 **SMACK!** "HEY!"

 **SMACK!** "STOP IT!"

"Koko realized that war officially became privatized when the new millennium rolled around. That governments saw the explosive cost of it across all categories. But if war becomes a business then it's subjected to market forces."

 **SMACK!** "CUT IT OUT!"

"The problem with that is that the market is starting to dry up. Less napalm in the jungles, less oil in the desert, fewer battlefields reeking of gunpowder. War breeding an endless cycle of poverty and debt. Soldiers marching into the field wondering why and what in the hell they're actually there for. Then whatever _official_ war is left is done by button pushers in air conditioned offices flying unmanned drones. War's nothing like it once was."

Currie was hitting every nail on the head with a perfect strike. My experiences in Afghanistan not included, while less war was good a lot of it had devolved into a gigantic mess. Hell even during the Cold War when much smaller and sometimes poorly trained state armies fought against each other they fought in the way wars were supposed to be fought. You fight, and you either win or lose. Sometimes they dragged on into fighting that ruined both sides but they did as Clausewitz said, 'A continuation of politics by other means.' More often than not those types of politics bordered on either greed or lies. But I couldn't shake the feeling that he might be singling me out in some way, being the only American there. We were the only nation that dropped a nuclear weapon on anyone and after that, pretty much all catastrophic war between major world powers ended.

"Well for better or worse, the wars you've survived and profited from aren't coming back. Can you afford that?"

 **SMACK!** "OWW!"

"The Doctor's right Currie. Take it from me, I've seen what it's becoming and I don't wanna steal a quote from a movie but it's just those that are left alive and those that are left dead. Nothing else."

"Let me be blunt Mr. Currie. You should have made a decision like this long before you even decided to meet with me. The clearest choice is to leave the gun trade to the major dealers like Koko."

 **SMACK!** "STOP IT!" She said starting to sob.

Currie then let out a pleased laugh. "I really don't know how to respond to that. I do know my time has passed but I can't just throw in the towel just yet. Not to her face at least. Mr. Andrushko?"

"Yes?" I then turned to look at him while Mildo's struggle was becoming weaker.

"I do know that you dabble in a lot of different arts. Some though in which I'm too old for, but what would you recommend?"

I kept the answer simple. "Why don't you open a restaurant? If you want I can exchange some good recipes I've picked up over the years."

"I do like to cook sir. I like his idea." Lou said jumping on board eagerly.

"You'd want to jump from Royal Marine to chef just like that?"

"Of course sir. Besides you know I haven't been a Marine in six years. I'd like the change of pace."

It caught me by surprise that Currie had someone with that type of training in his employment, Lou didn't really show it. I could guess what Mildo was, considering her stubbornness, but I'd rather hear her say it. Or hear her say she'd give up because this was getting tiring.

 **SMACK!** "IT HURTS DAMIEN! PLEASE!" She was starting to cry, I couldn't do this anymore.

"You give up?" I asked void of emotion.

"You win! Just stop!" She begged.

I then got up off of her and she immediately started rubbing her probably now bruised ass.

"Well Mildo it now falls to you. Would you like to help?" Currie asked while winking at me with a form of thanks.

"Sure Mr. Currie, I wouldn't mind." She winced. "Ow."

 **1843 Hours**

The rest of dinner was uneventful except for a few warnings I gave Currie on how to keep track of his expenses and customer base because lot's of self-owned restaurants fail within the first few years after they open. He gave me his card and I would have to email him a few recipes later in the week. But before our groups made our separate ways into the cold night I had to make sure that I didn't leave behind a burning bridge. I motioned his to wait before he left and walked towards her.

"What?" She asked annoyed.

I just ignored her and pulled out my wallet. Handing her two $100 bills, it would have been enough.

"The hell's this for?" She asked confused.

"Get yourself another pair of sunglasses."

She looked at me as if I was an idiot but I ignored her still.

"You think just buying me off will make up for what you did!?"

"Your ass and your ego aren't the only thing I can bruise. I'm trying to be nice." I threatened.

She then scowled at me but walked away putting the bills in her pocket. She then turned around a pointed at me a bit dramatically.

"Listen to me Damien! I'm not interested in settling my score with Valmet anymore! Next time we meet I'm coming for you! Next time I'll be prepared!" She then ran off.

Currie then smiled as he looked to me. "I think she likes you, Mr. Andrushko."

"No thanks. Masochists are just plain creepy."

Looked like the idea I had to get her to not like me backfired.

"Well I can't thank you enough for putting her in her place. I'm amazed she actually listened to you. She almost never listens to anyone."

"Mmm. Pilots in my opinion tend to all be the same, just a varying level of rock star."

"How did you guess that she was one?" Lou asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Gut feeling. That and her ego."

Currie then smirked at me. Breathing out through his nose, the air in his lungs freezing in the coming winter night.

"Intelligent, dominant, merciful, and practical. I can see why Koko has taken such an interest in you, young man. But I am curious, how did you manage to win over someone like Major Velmer?"

"I didn't." I answered honestly. "She saved my life."

"Hmm. Give Koko my regards."

And with that they left.

It was rather quiet out in Port Elizabeth tonight the streets were almost empty as me, Minami, and Low were walking back to our car. Low broke the rather lengthy silence first as Minami lit up her next cigarette. Maybe I was wrong about her not being a chain smoker like Lehm, she did have a little bit of a scratch in her voice.

"I could have handled her you know. As well as not look like a sexist pig in the process."

"And you would have gotten your arm broken again. Trust me I just did you a favor."

"Probably should listen to him Karen. It sounds like he means it." She then stretched her arms out to the side. "But how's your hand Damien? It sounded like you were hitting her rump rather hard."

"I didn't really want to go so far as thrashing her, but I had to get her to stop talking shit."

Minami then let out a laugh. "You know I find it kind of funny. Currie's way of giving up was letting you embarrass one of his own people. For as long as I've known Koko, arms dealers truly are a weird bunch. I guess that when you make a fortune selling things that kill people, you start going coocoo in the coconuts."

I smiled as I pulled out our car keys. Minami's SUV in sight.

"The actual term is 'Coocoo for Cocoa Puffs' but you could be more right than you know doc. Weapons makers and especially military types in general have a very different outlook on life than your average person does. You have to be one, to truly understand it. It's not something that you can put into words."

The Professor then sat in the back seat while Low rode shotgun.

"AHH! I ate so much!" She then leaned up in between the front seats. "The night's still young though, wanna get some after dinner drinks?"

"Sorry Doctor I'm not in the mood." Karen said in her dry professionalism.

"Come on Damien, we'll drink, she can drive." She said nudging me with her elbow.

"Sorry Minami, I got a text from Koko earlier, said we got to go to Germany in two days. I'm not leaving all my stuff on board her ship this time so I'm gonna take my time to pack."

"Come on! Pretty please!?" She said begging.

 _Fuck it._

"One beer." I said as I turned the car over.

 **November 26th 2010 1130 Hours**

 **Port Elizabeth International Airport**

The days came and went and I managed to get what I wanted to take with me properly packed. As well as the rest of the crew since it looked like we weren't gonna be on the ship again for a while. Seems like every time we came down here it would be rather short and we fly out instead of sail away. While it would be nice to see Germany this time of year, I doubted that it would just be for the landscape and architecture. Koko had mentioned to me that she would need my more updated tactical expertise on a few things but she would give me further details once we landed there.

After we got our cargo moved through, Minami and her staff went to see us off.

"Damien be sure to come back soon!" She said as I gently waved her off.

While also feeling the burning aura of hatred coming from the guys as I now managed to somehow win over the affection of another crazy woman. Like I told R before that unfortunate moment, I have no fucking clue on what women see in me. Muscle and height not included, I often wear a scowl, my posture is normally aggressive, and my sarcasm can keep people at a distance. Maybe some women don't see that and do see as handsome. Granted I know I'm not Elvis, or George Clooney, or even Rock Hudson but I never once saw myself as THAT attractive.

"Ohhh! Come on Koko! Can't I keep him for just a few more days?"

"HELL NO!" Koko and Sophia both said leaning towards her.

"Hey now don't get mad you two. I'd think it would be a much better idea if he did stick around with me for a while longer."

"Why is that?" Koko demanded as she pushed Sophia back with the rest of us.

"I'm worried all that cuteness is gonna ruin your image and turn you into a big softie."

"What?" She said perplexed.

 _Are they really doing this in front of everyone?_

"Hey don't give me that look. You know I'm right."

"Well I'm surprised you entertain yourself with those kinds of thoughts. Someone being so disconnected would notice something about someone else is a rather nice touch. Plus it tells me you're taking the plan seriously as it gets further to it's completion, along with how our actions affect others."

"Not to interrupt you spiel Koko, but you guy's actions are affecting others feel like they want to murder me out of jealousy. One in particular more than others." I said slightly motioning my head to where Sophia was standing.

Koko at least got the point and signaled to the crew to go and we'd catch up. But Sophia stood her ground.

"Now I understand you're scared but there's nothing to worry about. The parts that we need to complete it are almost done. All we really need is the people to put it together. Now granted there's a chance that some with even the keenest intuition might figure out what we're up to. Some might want it for themselves and others would want it destroyed. But as long as we keep them guessing, no one is going to make a move against us."

Her tone at the end of that sounded a little vicious. Granted that's part of her character and I'm the last person in the world to even lecture her on it. But that also had to be another reason why she kept me with Amada when Currie had arrived, to see if he knew anything that he shouldn't have. But she sounded rather confident in no one making a move against her. I then started to think about what Hex said, that the US wanted to piggyback off of whatever the hell Koko was making. But now I knew for sure that whatever it was, was physical.

Minami then adjusted her glasses. "This had better work."

"Professor Amada, I guarantee it."

I then leaned over to whisper to Sophia. "You catch the way she's describing whatever the hell they've been working on? Doesn't sound too positive. How long have they been working on this thing?"

She gave me an annoyed look instead.

"What?"

"Don't be so nosy Damien. It's her project and she's probably keeping it a secret for a reason. And has she ever given you any reason to doubt her? Huh?"

She was right. The year so far was proof enough, I really need to find some way to not butt myself into everyone's business.

"No. She has not"

She then smiled with approval but then we both felt a force in which pushed us towards each other. But before we connected I felt something stop us both from touching each other. We both looked down and saw Koko's white hair separating our chests. She had pulled us both together.

"No slacking on the job Minami!"

"Aww no fair! Why should you get the best of both worlds at the same time?" Minami whined.

Koko then directed us to our gate, still nestled in between me and Sophia.

"Koko, you're nuts." I said bluntly.

"You're walking with two beautiful women clinging to you and you just brush it off. If anyone's nuts around here it's you!"

"Meh. Adequate." I said shrugging while looking at them both.

"Now you're just being difficult!" She said pushing me off and kicking me in the ass.

But before we walked any further Minami shouted to us.

"Koko! One more thing, can we finally give a name to this project of ours? I'm getting a little tired of calling it 'the plan'."

She then turned around to look at her.

"It's 'Jormungand'. The plan is 'Jormungand'."


	40. Chapter 39

**Author's Note: Good news is that I'm almost done out here and will get back to a somewhat normal life. Bad news is I'm working six days out of seven and on my day off I'm mostly asleep. So writing chapters is becoming a bit of a hassle, took me three days to come up with a premise for one and I usually write three chapters ahead so as not to get bogged down.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 39: Peace On Earth**

 **December 6** **th** **2010 1400 Hours**

 **The Pentagon, Washington DC**

The snow had finally begun to fall in the capital. Yesterday he woke up and saw that there was a light cover on his lawn. General Andrushko had once grown to find winter to be his favorite time of the year and many of his friends thought he was crazy to like the constant cold and cloudy days. But he found it to be rather therapeutic with the endless visual of white and only the sound of the wind. Having lived a majority of his life in southern states it was a nice refreshing pace as opposed to the constant heat and mugginess of Georgia or the dryness and emptiness of Texas.

But now was the time of the year where his depression was at it's worst. Everyone on his staff knew why and did their best not to burden him with too much and did a majority of the work for him today. There were three specific days during the winter months where they knew that the steel faced Special Forces General was at his most fragile on the inside. Today was the last day he ever saw his son. On New Years Day was his son's birthday. And the last one was in February when he disappeared. Having them so close together took a great toll on him.

Colonel Raiser was essentially in charge for the day and with holiday leave coming up they focused only on the important aspects of what needed to be done. Office environments were the same even in military environments, the only exception was that the level of classified information was rather high. But it was quiet, quiet enough that sometimes he would day dream about being back in the field again. But this came with the promotions in rank and it was unavoidable. Currently he was going over some intelligence with one of the SEAL's, a Lieutenant from NAVSPECWAR One, Dante Mendez. Born in El Salvador he emigrated to the US to join the Navy to become an American citizen. Some info was passed along that a certain high value target had come on the radar but the description was deemed classified by the CIA and NSA. The reason though was that they wanted to be sure that the target was who they thought it was before giving any further information. Need to know basis, even applied to General Officers.

"I was supposed to share this directly with the General, no exceptions." He said with his Spanish accent but with clear pronunciation of words.

"He would have let me know the moment you left anyway. And trust me, Commander Krauser would say the same thing if he were here. Besides, it's a bit of an unwritten rule around this office. Today is not one of his better days and in a way it has to do with his mental health."

The Colonel knew he was gonna have to tell the condensed version of the story again. One that he along with members of the staff didn't like to tell because new people came and went all the time.

"What do you mean?"

"Today was the last day he ever saw his son alive." He said without looking at him.

The SEAL from Central America then looked towards the open door of the Generals office. He looked however completely normal, going through his work as if it were any other day. He knew the parents of those lost in combat were never strictly civilian.

"KIA?"

"MIA. There was also a silent firestorm after that. You might remember it from two years ago?"

"Wait you mean that his son was involved in what happened when SECDEF and former Director Hayden came down hard on SOCOM?"

"We didn't know for sure, his was just one of the many identities that weren't confirmed after Anvil was overrun. A lot of people got fired from their positions. It's obvious that the CIA didn't want whatever happened there to leak and they aren't the types to bluff. But Admiral Olsen knew that Marcus didn't have anything to do with it, he fought tooth and nail to make sure that only the appropriate people got punished."

The Navy Lieutenant decided that it was best to not discuss the subject any further. Everyone was up in good spirits for the time of the year it was and didn't want to hamper it. Even more so that his own unit had been assigned a rather much more comfortable position as opposed to Afghanistan. Many parties were also coming up in the next two weeks and he didn't want to go into them acting like the minority of people who get somewhat depressed this time of year.

"Well anyway…this portion we managed to keep under wraps. The same couldn't be said for a lot of the information that was leaked by Julian Assange again."

Raiser then held his head in his hands and groaned in annoyance. He remembered of the Cable Leaks that happened about a week after Thanksgiving.

"God, that man does not understand why some things HAVE to be classified. No matter how noble he thinks he is, his methods are going to get him killed one day."

 **1700 Hours**

The day had come and gone for the General. Despite the hardships that had happened to him life had continued on as normal. While his son did come to mind more than once today, he spent most of the day thinking about what he announced to his brothers and made his final decision. He would wait until spring to do it however, so that he would have ample time to plan his retirement.

He waved his goodbyes to everyone as he left the building with his uniform clearly not matching. Sporting a black beanie with his black trench coat, it covered up his service uniform and he wore his combat boots so as not to get his dress shoes dirty from the slush outside. Once again, being a General had its perks. But as he got to his car, someone was waiting for him, NSA agent Peter Carlyle.

"Something you need?"

"Nothing of urgency Marcus. I was just wondering if we could have dinner together. The missus is waiting on the in-laws at Dulles, their flight got delayed and she left me to fend for myself."

"That time of year again." The General said as he hit the unlock button on his car keys.

Carlyle was an older gentleman but enough that he had dipped himself in the mud and blood of being a Marine that Andrushko had tolerated working with him. Deviousness seemed to be a type of requirement in all of the intelligence agencies but the evolution in which it was progressing was going away from human source intelligence work to SIGINT and electronic warfare. It was because of this that Carlyle was exceptional in tracking and intercepting communiques from high ranking foreign government and military officials. The digital age was giving more and more opportunities for hackers to cripple and disable a military or even a country far worse than a massive army ever could.

"There's also a gentleman I would like you to meet. He recently came under the employment of the DIA and I'm just helping him branch out with the official channels."

The General wasn't surprised that there was going to be a catch to this little meal. But he'd make sure that it cost Carlyle.

"Where are _you_ treating us both for tonight?" He said as he exited the Pentagon and headed to downtown Washington.

 **1745 Hours**

 **RARE Steak and Seafood**

If anything, government officials always held a higher standard of comfort. It was why so many US citizens disliked Congress as they did. By enjoying the lap of luxury at the expense of the US taxpayer and Carlyle was no different. Surf and Turf was served tonight for all three men as well as a bottle of 30 year old cabernet. It looked like it was ordered ahead by the man who had arrived first. An older Asian man with a greying groomed high and tight haircut with lines in his face that indicated he was seasoned in his line of work. He recognized one of the two gentlemen that he would meet this evening, so he stood up and prepared to shake hands.

"Ahh…Mr. Carlyle, your right on time. I was afraid I would have to eat all of this myself."

"I knew you would have ordered everything on the menu if I didn't come sooner, Colonel."

The Colonel then looked towards the American soldier dressed in his service blues. The ribbons and badges on his chest were typical of a man who had spent an ample amount of time in service. But it surprised him that he had done well to fight off the age that had normally affected most officers. But the lines of a scowl were chiseled into him, it was appropriate for one that was part of United States Special Forces. He would expect no different, since he was cut from the same cloth as a Japanese Ranger. But something about him caught his eye, something familiar.

"Pleasure to meet you General. I'm Yosuke Hinoki, former Colonel in the Johohonbu. Peter here told me all about you."

The General was a little taken back by who he was meeting.

"Marcus Andrushko. You're Japanese intelligence?"

"Like I said, formally. I had done some work with the DIA in the past but due to some unfortunate circumstances I asked them if they would like my assistance. Just call me a determined old man who doesn't want to fade away just yet. And despite what you may think about Peter he didn't drag you out here to talk about what might be hidden under the blacked out sections. I'm here to get to know who I'll be working with."

 _Well he won't be with me for very long._

With that they sat down and began to eat. The plates were still piping hot from the steaks being cooked and the lobster was still steaming. It was good to treat ones self to a fancy meal every now and then, especially if you weren't paying for it.

"Why did you quit the Johohonbu anyway?" The General asked.

Hinoki then took a sip of his wine before he answered. He knew he couldn't tell him the real reason. It was the rule of being spy, don't say everything. If you need to, keep it vague or mislead.

"Everyone I used to work with was no longer there." He then looked out the window. "The first snowfall around here is nice isn't it?"

 **December 21** **st** **2010 0800 Hours**

 **Munderkingen, Germany, HCLI Tactical Training Grounds**

 _God this weather sucks!_

Except for a few days where the clouds had cleared it had been snowing almost every day since we touched down in Munich. I technically haven't been to Germany yet, the only time that I was there to get to a connecting flight to Tunisia after I had to leave Russia. But unfortunately we weren't going to stay in Munich, we left the airport and headed right out of the city towards HCLI's German training site. It was a shame I couldn't take any good pictures from when we were in the car because the city was iconic for it's architecture. Little thing that most people don't want to mention though was that a lot of the original structures had to be rebuilt since when the war was coming to an end in Europe, Allied bombing runs were basically leveling every German city in order to break the Nazi's will to fight.

"Cold bro? Trust me, I don't like it either but we're gonna have to deal with it."

Lutz obviously didn't seem to mind at all about the weather. He was a little more enthusiastic though since he was home anyway. He often told me about how his granddad took him hunting in weather like this. He said it was one the reasons that he chose the sniping profession in GSG-9 because of his experiences as a kid.

"I can handle a little snow when the bullets start flying. I'm just glad this crap is coming to an end. We've been at it for nine days straight."

The reason why we were out here in Germany was to prepare for a special assignment that Koko need us for. There was a VIP that she wanted to have under her employment, all well and good except that we had to acquire her through a means in which her current employers would not let her go willingly. The VIP's name was Dr. Elena Andreyevna Baburin, a renowned physicist that worked for the Russian State.

In layman's terms we were about to kidnap a woman and brain drain a world power at the same time. A majority of the crew though didn't seem to mind, it seemed like this was another mission to them. But when Koko was formally briefing us when we first arrived at HCLI's training site Lutz and I shared the same type of concern. We kept it quiet but we both knew that what we were about to do was extremely dangerous.

Or reasons for it though were different. Lutz, being a member of GSG-9, was uncomfortable with the fact of kidnapping another person for someone else's own gain. It was also ironic since he was specifically trained to deal with kidnapping situations during standoffs. Mine though focused on the bigger picture on how volatile the situation would become in the Russians caught us. We'd be dead, plain and simple. Not to mention that the Kremlin would want to find out why one of their top scientists for one of their design bureaus disappeared. The reason why the whole kidnapping thing didn't affect me as much was because I had done it before. During my time in Thailand, I was contracted by a smuggler for a job to kidnap the younger brother of a rival for a ransom. However, he missed the deadline and the pirate planted a machete in the victim's head. He decided to get the money by force but I managed to appeal to his business principles and said that I was just supposed to get him a man and I did. I had a right to refuse another contract, no matter what he offered. Deciding not to fight two battles at once, he made the wise decision of considering our contract to be fulfilled.

"I do have a feeling that we won't be sticking around here until Christmas time. You'd like it around here man it's awesome!"

We then heard the distinct sound of two helicopters inbound, two MH-6 Little Birds to be precise. We pulled our balaclavas and goggles on to protect us from the wind. Then took the last few moments to ensure that our harnesses were fully secured and loaded our mags. Today was the live fire portion.

"I'm sure it is. Besides this isn't the first time I've had to work during the holidays. I just hope we get New Years off."

The birds touched down in the snowfield and the eight of us mounted up. Myself, Lehm, Mao, and Ugo with the first and the rest with the second. Our pilot though was a familiar face though we had met once before in Japan only briefly because we had to leave rather quickly, Keith Gordon. He along with the other Little Bird flyer, Nathan Rothrine, were pilots in the US 160th SOAR otherwise known as the Night Stalkers. The personal flyboys for US Special Operations troops. Both were upscale looking white gentlemen that fit the profile of many helicopter pilots, laid back to a fault but the guys you want to have come and save your ass when shit hits the fan on the ground. Rothrine took his job a little more professionally than his counterpart with a trimmed pilots mustache and buzzcut hair. Considering that he had a nasty 'Y' looking scar on the left cheek to this hairline from when a round went through his cockpit it made sense. His callsign was 'Red' for his obviously deep red hair. Gordon however was just wearing warm civilian clothes, appropriate ones for a pilot that were a brown leather bomber jacket and of course aviator sunglasses. His groomed thick black hair and green eyes, which didn't really match his permanent 5 o'clock shadow, and smug facial expression were typical of a guy that enjoyed his craft and knew that he was an expert at it. That being said he did have a bit of an ego, and coming from me that was saying something. Such as his callsign that I saw coming a mile away, 'Flash'.

" _Ok ladies and gentlemen, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. If you need to puke, avoid hitting my chopper. And if you fall, well there's nothing we can do about it."_

I just did my best to ignore his jaeger drawl on the radio as we lifted off to our practice objective. Whoever this woman was the Russians seemed very interested in taking extra good care of her. And according to the intel that Koko was briefing us on, a little too good. She was kept under constant surveillance, almost as if she was a prisoner. The research facility she worked at, which was literally in the middle of nowhere and had three battalions of troops nearby, was about 100 miles east of St. Petersburg. It was far too secure to conduct a snatch and grab and Koko didn't have any intel on the layout of the building. It seemed as though that she had her own personal armed convoy that transported her to and from where she worked, so it wasn't like she was in a cell. That would be the way we would extract her, eliminate the guards, grab her, and get the hell out of there before the Russian's even knew what was happening. Then we'd haul ass back to St. Petersburg where the _Fruition_ was docked, stow her onboard the ship, and we would fly out like nothing happened.

Hopefully the weather wouldn't be as terrible when we got over there but it would be a little harder since from the intel we had gathered they liked to transport the Doctor before and after the sun's in the sky. Add to the fact that the convoy would be moving made hitting your targets rather difficult. But with the practicing we'd been doing for the last two weeks we were becoming increasingly better at it. All we needed to do was stop the convoy and we could pick the rest of them off when we hit the ground. We just had to be careful not to hit Baburin.

" _All callsigns I have eyes on the convoy. Designated marksmen, select your targets."_

Rothrinie called it out since he was in the lead and Gordon came up on his right, the designated marksmen were of course Lutz and Lehm.

" _Engaging."_

The three SUV's on the road below us were being steered via remote control from the support staff in the command building far from here. They had already been splotched with paint from our previous runs but this was the test in which we had to have the snatch and grab down to a T. Lutz and Lehm had had a few separate practice sessions from us since they had to be the ones that took out the drivers or any designated gunners.

Lehm took aim at the lead truck and fired. Looking down below I saw that it had stopped entirely, I saw that there were camera's in the trucks after our first run so that the support staff knew when to stop. Gordon then landed his bird in front of the convoy to drop the four of us off while Rothrine and the other half of the squad kept us covered from the air. All the while we were using our own unique hand signals to communicate and motion where we were supposed to go and what to do. While it would have been hard to communicate, even through the radios, with the chopper hovering over us we had to be as discrete as possible so as not to leave any trace of affiliation to anything. Only once the guards were eliminated were we allowed to speak so that we could get Baburin to come with us, we had to try and convince her that she would have a less confined life. But if that didn't work we'd use force, non-lethal of course.

Using two by two cover formation we cleared all of the marked targets and went for the SUV that had "Baburin" in it, a dummy in a white coat. I slung my weapon behind my back and lifted the weighted mannequin over my shoulder. Ugo, Lehm, and Mao kept me covered while I placed the dummy in the co-pilot's seat next to Gordon. I then got on the radio as I strapped myself in.

"Valkyrie this is Draugr 2. Draupnir is secured, I say again, Draupnir is secured. RTB time now. Over."

" _Copy that Draugr 2. Excellent work. I'll see you at the recovery point. Out."_

Koko was back at control with the support staff but once we were out in the field she would be on board the _Fruition_ acting as our eyes in the sky with one of HCLI's down looking satellites. While we her primary bodyguards, the crew on board the ship worked as a good B Team. I didn't get much of an opportunity to know most of them, since we were constantly on the move and they had a job to do with running the ship. But they went through the same type of protective training many of HCLI's bodyguards went through so they were competent in their own right.

As we were flying back to the starting point, I drifted into thought about the name of Koko's plan again, and her clever idea of giving us call signs from Norse mythology. Side note, I liked them a lot. So much so that I drifted into a little bit of a binge read on the topic when we weren't doing anything. Draugr were improperly buried warriors that came back to life to slaughter the living. One would might just say zombie, but these guys had incredible strength and preferred crushing their victims with their gigantic size. Draupnir was a magical ring given as a gift to the king of the Norse gods, Odin, from the two dwarf brothers that crafted Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Our current designations turned away from the cheesy and overused ones you hear from a lot of military unit's world wide and they weren't as plain as using the military alphabet.

Jormungand, or the Midgard Serpent, was a gigantic snake that encircled all of Midgard, the central realm of the nine realms in Norse mythology. But it did give me an uneasy feeling since that it was one of the creatures that would play a key part in the event known as Ragnarok, the Norse version of Judgment Day. That and it also had an eerie familiarity to HCLI's logistical satellite network. I was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable with whatever the hell she was up to, but I would have to deal with that later. She never gave me any reason to doubt her and she was always up front with me if I needed to know something. Plus she honors her promises, I knew that for a fact since I was now felt more like a man than a monster.

She was waiting for all of us at the helipads near the command building, if it wasn't for her dark blue pants and winter hat she would have been invisible in the snow. Her white winter jacket with her long white hair almost made her appear like she wasn't even there.

"Great job everyone!" She shouted to us as we all disembarked from the birds.

"Kaaaaay." We all said.

"Gordon, Rothrine, you too. Now I don't mean to rush this but we're a little short on time, with Christmas coming up our travel is going to be a bit of a hiccup. So you guys get your stuff, refuel, and fly those birds north. The transport trucks will be waiting for you in Berlin and the _Fruition_ will be docked at Koaobrzeg. We'll see you in Russia."

"Copy that boss. Russia's always lovely this time of year." Gordon said ending with sarcasm as Rothrine followed his wingman.

We then started walking towards our own cars so that we could change and fly out to St. Petersburg. As I pulled off my goggles and balaclava, Koko pulled me to the side to tell me something.

"I got what you wanted the other day. I'll give it to you when we get back to our hotel."

"Nice." I said smiling that my package had arrived.

"Hold up. What are you going to get me?" She said stopping me before I could walk off.

"Huh?"

"Come on it's our first Christmas together. I've put up with you for the year, so you gotta get me something nice!"

"Who am I? Santa Claus?"

She then looked at me with a pout and her fists clenched to the side like a spoiled brat who didn't get what they wanted.

"Ugh. Ok fine how bout this? You let me pick were we'll all go for New Years and I'll get ya something nice. Deal?"

She then straightened her form and put on her smile. "Good enough. Where do you wanna go?"

I thought a bit about what Lutz said. It was nice around Germany but I could think of a better place where the scenery would be better. Their neighbor to the south.

"How about Switzerland? Rent a lodge in the Alps for a few days?"

I figured that she would have been on board with it immediately but her expression turned into a bit of regret.

"Umm is there any other place you would wanna go? Maybe somewhere warmer?"

"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.

"Nothing it's just…never mind. If that's what you wanna do then that's fine with me." She said walking off to catch up with the crew. Without even looking at me and a wind blowing rather strongly after that.

 _What did I say?_

 **December 23** **rd** **2010 2017 Hours**

 **Gan'a'kovo, Russia**

Go in, take the doctor, and then we leave, totally easy. But knowing on how our luck tends to suck at the worst possible moments I just had to wait until it actually happened. At least though it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be riding in the "trailer" of one of the two trucks that were carrying us to our objective. The low green light of two glow sticks dangling from the chopper made the atmosphere surreal. Like the bird was riding with us to participate in our mission.

" _Draugr Actual this is Draugr 5. This is about as isolated as we can get."_

Sophia was on the radio contacting Lehm. I wondered when we were going to finally set up to depart, if we got any further we would be dangerously close to the facility.

"Roger that. All callsigns, start building the nest."

The trucks eventually rolled to a stop and the each of us stood away from the walls of the container. Then came the mechanical whirling and whining of hydraulics as the mobile heliport began to take shape. These were what we initially first started training on before we got to the fun stuff. It was actually pretty easy, the machine just did all of the work for us. I couldn't see the first phase though but I could feel it in my boots, the support legs went out from the sides of the truck first so that the pad would rest on them. The pad of course were the container as it gradually opened up and I was immediately hit with snow and a drop in temperature. I was already prepared for it with my white balaclava covering my face but it was a little hard to see, night not included. Wasn't much to see anyway, just vast snow covered forest for miles in all directions. Our most time consuming task would be getting the remaining rotor blades onto the bird but they weren't heavy, just awkward.

There was little to no conversation, either face to face or on the radios. We knew what we had to do and we were running against time. We also had to take necessary precautions for if the worst would happen. Once we left from our mobile heliport it would be undefended, all of us were flying out. Only the essential personnel would be on this trip. This was where Wiley came in by wiring the platforms and trucks with a few remote charges. If the trucks were compromised, he'd just hit the switch and we'd fly as far as we could back to St. Petersburg and Koko would send the back up chopper. Naturally we would destroy the Little Birds too, but I was kinda wondering how much this would set Koko back if something did go horribly wrong. She told me not to worry about it and granted I knew she could afford it but it was still several million bucks worth of equipment. I guess when you've had money all your life it doesn't really affect you unless it's deeply personal.

As we bolted on the last blade we immediately started to load up. Appropriately dressed for a winter combat environment in woodland snow camo each of us also wore the same type of carrying rig and protective gear. We couldn't differentiate from each other for reasons we already knew. To top it all off we had an eye in the sky that keeping watch on the field from back in a nice cozy and warm cabin back in the St. Petersburg docks. She would tell us if there was any change to the doctors schedule.

" _Draugr Actual this is Valkyrie. Is the nest finished?"_

"Just got the last feather on and we're loading up now."

" _Good. Thermal scan of the facility shows several armed vehicles waiting to depart. Your window has narrowed down a bit."_

"Understood. Flash! Red! Fire 'em up."

"Time to shine." Gordon said with a grin while flipping down his NVG's.

As the whirl of the engines engaged we then strapped ourselves into the seats on the sides of the Little Birds. I was the last man to hook my harness up and I gave the signal to take off.

 **2041 Hours**

While I couldn't feel the wind blowing on me directly through my windbreaker camo, it didn't mean it wasn't cold as fuck. Russian winters are pretty self explanatory but you never know how truly miserable they feel unless you actually experience one for yourself. Couple that with the wind chill factor and I wouldn't be surprised if just one of us got frostbite from out here. I'd have to tolerate it for now and just enjoy the view.

" _Valkyrie to Flash, do you read?"_

I flicked the safety off of my ACR. This was Koko letting us know that we were close.

" _Valkyrie."_

" _Convoy containing Draupnir is still running along its planned route. At your current heading, ETA is 90 seconds."_

" _Acknowledged. Designated Draugr elements, prepare for contact."_

" _Copy."_ Lehm.

" _Roger."_ Lutz.

As we continued to fly low just above the trees, I then spotted light in the distance through my NVG's. The road was in sight and the convoy. Just like in practice, Gordon and Rothrine then flew ahead of them so that the convoy was coming towards us. However from closer inspection there were five SUV's instead of three. Not too much of a problem though since most plans don't always go 100%. Just means more targets for us.

" _Engaging."_

I immediately heard the high powered crack of Lehm's M40 and the front SUV started to swerve on the road and it then flipped on its side. The rear one then ran into it and it was just simple chain reaction after that. It looked like the road was a bit to icy for all the vehicles to come to a complete stop. I knew that they would have never placed her in the front victor but I did hope that Baburin wasn't hurt or Koko would be livid.

We then touched down and unhooked our straps at the same time. Just like in the practice runs, Ugo kept me covered with his Mk46 to the rear and Lehm and Mao covered us on our left flank. Red and the rest of the squad kept us covered from the air. The noise of the chopper drowning out the opening shots on the ground. Even with two interlocking fields of fire, we didn't have much cover on the ground and there was nothing protecting Red's bird in the air. So we had to keep pushing and ensure that no one was left.

Stop and pop, stop and pop. Even though a few of the guards did manage to get off some shots. They were so blindsided by such an attack that they didn't know how to react to it.

" _Draugr 6 to Draugr 2. Last tango is down."_ Lutz was letting me know to start searching.

"Copy. Keep me covered, I'll try to make this quick."

It was quicker than I thought. As I approached the first SUV I heard a whimper from inside. Knowing better I slung my rifle behind me but kept my hand on my sidearm just in case. I opened the rear door and there was a shriek. The cringing woman in her white lab coat and a turtleneck sweater matched the description of the photo Koko gave us. Late twenties, short blonde hair, blue eyes. Of course I was looking at her though the green world of my NVG's but I knew it was her. But I blanked for a brief moment as I realized that there was a consistency of who I was meeting or associating within the last year. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I just knew that they all didn't look the way they do.

 _Is every chick I'm coming across like stupid hot? Or is it just me?_

"Uspokoysya, Doktor." I said with my free hand raised. "Ya ne sobirayus' prichinyat' tebe bol'."

(Calm down, Doctor. I'm not going to hurt you.)

"Kto ty?" She said shivering. No surprise that she was looking at a massive and faceless man prepared for war.

(Who are you?)

"Kto-to, kto mozhet osvobodit' vas iz vashey tyur'my. Vse, chto vam nuzhno sdelat', eto poyti s nami."

(Someone that can free you from your prison. All you have to do is come with us.)

Naturally she was surprised by the chain of events that were transpiring. I then lifted up my NVG's so that she could look me in the eye and extended my gloved hand. I hoped she took it or else I would have had to drag her out. She was a little hesitant.

"Pozhaluysta! U vas mozhet ne poluchit'sya takaya vozmozhnost!" I said half telling and half insisting.

(Please! You may not get another opportunity like this!)

She waited until the last second where I was about to grab her, but she took my hand with confidence and I kept her close as we made our way back to the front of the convoy. Baburin then turned towards me with her eyes shut and her hand covering her mouth. Obviously disgusted with the amount of bodies she was passing by. I then pressed the receiver on my radio to let Koko know we got her.

"Valkyrie this is Draugr 2. Draupnir is secured. I say again, Draupnir is secured."

The physicist then looked up to me shocked at the sudden language changed but she kept walking. At least until she shielded her face with her arm as Gordon landed his bird next to us and I helped her into the co-pilots seat.

" _Copy that Draugr 2. Be advised, I intercepted a radio communication while you were clearing the area. A reinforcement convoy is en route. Get out of there. Now!"_

"Understood. Ok people you heard the lady! Mount up!"

With no argument and all rush, the ground team then strapped themselves onto Flash's Little Bird while Red's took off ahead of us. Hopefully Baburin's detachment didn't have air support. If all went according to plan then we'd be back in St. Petersburg before dawn the next day. I then realized I had something else I needed to do when we got back as we lifted off. But I forgot if I actually took it out before I left.

"Valkyrie?"

" _Go Draugr 2."_

"Did I take the prime rib out before I left?" I asked hoping it was true or else Christmas dinner would be later than intended or canceled.

I heard her chuckle. _"I took it out for you Damien. No need to worry."_

"Thanks Koko."

I broadcasted that on the open channel though and I heard laughter from everyone.

" _We're out here freezing our asses off and all you can think about is tomorrow nights dinner?"_ Tojo said.

"It took a while to find a decent cut of meat while we were doing all this shit for the month. I'm not letting it go to waste so how bout a little gratitude?"

" _Yeah Tojo I haven't had prime rib in a few years. I wanna see how Damien's turns out."_ Wiley said backing me up.

Honestly as far as roasts go, it all depends on how long and what temperature you cook it at. You can have the best rub or marinade but if you cook it in the oven the wrong way, you'll end up eating a raw slab or a overdone piece of leather.

" _Hey Kid."_ Gordon was talking to me. He could have chosen his words better though but we'd only known each other for a few weeks.

"What?"

" _Red and I won't be sticking around tomorrow when we get back. So I just want to say hell of a job and Merry Christmas. Since this is you're first time flying with me. How about a victory song?"_

While grateful for the compliments I was confused on what he was talking about. Rothrine then came on the net, but not in a positive way.

" _Oh Christ man do you have to play that shit EVERY time you fly with someone new!?"_

" _Hey, he did a good job. Besides you know this is my good luck song."_

" _You know that every time you play that something-"_

Rothrine was immediately cut off as the song started playing. A very familiar one that nowadays was synonymous with helicopter rides. Damn thing was right at the tip of my tongue as I forgot it's name until it started playing.

 _Gonna tell Aunt Mary 'bout Uncle John!_

 _He claim he has the music but he's havin lot a fun!_

 _Oh baby! Yeah baby! Whoo! Baby!_

 _Havin me some fun tonight. Yeah!_

 _Well long tall Sally she's built sweet she got_

 _Everything that Uncle John need! Oh Baby!_

 _Yeah baby! Whoo! Baby!_

 _Havin me some fun tonight. Yeah!_

Nobody else obviously seemed to mind. I even saw Lutz tapping his thigh on the other bird and Ugo was swinging his legs matching the beat next to me. As I looked back at Gordon he had a wide smile on his face. It was only then I realized on how much of an ego some people could have. It only mattered if it was in good taste or not.

"Strap this on your sore ass, Gordon." I said flipping him the bird and I saw him let out a hearty laugh.

 _Well I saw Uncle John with bald head Sally!_

 _He saw Aunt Mary comin and he ducked back in the alley!_

 _Oh baby! Yeah baby! Whoo! Baby!_

 _Havin me some fun tonight, yeah. OW!_

" _Oh God now there's two of them."_ Sophia said from the other bird. Probably face palming at the same time.

I figured that two of me would be the perfect fantasy for her. But I kept my mouth shut or else I would have been the first person to die in a helicopter crash from a woman who just threw her knife at it.

 _Have some fun, have me some fun tonight!_

 **December 24** **th** **2010 0400 Hours**

 **St. Petersburg, Russia**

We managed to pull this little "employee acquisition" off without a hitch and it was a smooth ride all the way back to St. Petersburg. Metaphorically speaking of course because the moment we were done disassembling the mobile heliports and the trucks started to drive off I threw off my gear and passed out on the floor of the trailer. I did hear a little something from Baburin though about what was going to happen to her. But Lehm let her know that it was Koko that would tell her that little part. A weird thing about that though was that he told her the first part in Russian. It was a little weird, not that he knew another language, but on how he never used any of his own language skills. You don't get to be member of Delta Force and know only the languages of English, punching and gunfire.

I managed to sleep all the way back to the dock's where the _Fruition_ was at. So at least that meant that Baburin was taking her little abduction rather well. Still didn't mean that when we got back to the ship that she would have agreed to stay with HCLI. But Koko always had her ways with words, it was a matter if the other person accepted them or not.

"Come on Damien, rise and shine. We're almost there." Ugo said kicking me in the foot to wake me up.

After stretching my arms and cracking my neck the big man of the crew offered his hand to me and he got me on my feet with no effort. The inside of the trailer had a few more glow sticks that had illuminated it better. He along with the other members of the squad weren't in their gear and snow camo but in jumpsuits that would classify them as crew members of the ship. I was the only one who hadn't changed yet, plus I fell asleep with my balaclava on and it was starting to itch. As I was about to change I saw that Baburin hadn't left the chopper's seat since we got her. As I took off my outer jacket and balaclava to then put on my jumpsuit, I noticed that my hair felt like a mess. I though that since it was gonna be under a mask I wouldn't need to wrap it up. I guess I was wrong.

"Ugh. What I wouldn't give for a brush right now."

As I hooked my matted mess behind my ears I saw the doctor staring at me rather perplexed.

"Chto?"

(What?)

"Nothing, I…just didn't expect you to look so young." She said in English but with a Russian accent that was heavier than Amalia's.

"Despite what you may think Doktor, I'm no older than you. I'm just one of those few that doesn't smoke and drink every day and actually cares about their health."

I then felt the truck change gears, it looked like we were finally at the docks. After zipping up my jumpsuit, I opened the chopper door for the doctor. It was a little refreshing every now and then when people realize just how much I eclipse over them. The lady was a little taken back from it. But I just stared back, indifferent and uncaring as usual. It was about all I could do for most people so that they don't see me as an intimidating threat, unless I have to be.

"So who are all you people? Are you with the American CIA?"

I tried my best not to sneer at that acronym but she asked a valid question.

"Not in the least. We're more along the lines of a private enterprise operation, and my boss wants you to work for her."

"Her?" She asked as the rear doors opened.

"You'll see soon enough." I said while motioning her to follow me.

 **0500 Hours**

After we got onboard to the warm interior of the ship, I stood outside Koko's cabin guarding/eavesdropping on the "job interview" she was having with Baburin. I did notice though that in better light she had freckles, weird for blondes. The rest were unwinding from the mission, until I had to make breakfast that is.

After Koko had made the formal introductions she got into Baburin's history and her significance in the scientific community. Now I may be an educated man and I could understand the concepts of what they were discussing but science on that high of a scale was a little hard for me to comprehend. Especially with anything that involves quantum physics, since shit like that was completely out of my range of knowledge. But apparently Baburin was the worlds foremost expert in quantum optics. Basically using light as a form of energy transference. Whatever the hell it was for though, Koko wanted it for her project. Naturally the Russian physicist was aware that she just wanted her for how good she was in her field and wasn't really enthusiastic about just going from one prison like life to another.

"For three years they told me that it was all for Mother Russia. But I knew that I was nothing but their prisoner. Unless I produced results, they would have just locked me in a real prison and left me to die. The only reason I'm still alive is because I gave them what they wanted in dose's small enough that I remained fed for another day. Why should I even bother helping you? You can't even begin to understand what it's like to have a gift and then be seen only as a means to an end."

Her frustration was apparent. It was the same with many scientists that work or "worked" for their governments. It became the prey of politicians so that their power could grow. Another sad tale from the Cold War that never seemed to thaw.

"No, I cannot. But that doesn't mean you should just toss aside your genius because a few suits told you a few comforting lies just for their own gain. Now I get that you might have been proud to serve your country thinking that you could use your unique gifts to help benefit mankind. When you were expanding your knowledge at Novosibirsk you probably though 'I'll create something that all people could use and manufacturers will line up to want to hire me!' But that's where the greed of those that think they know better come in. Naturally the Kremlin saw your talents and they wanted you all to themselves. You thought it was a grand opportunity, but then came the crushing reality that you would be expendable once they got what they wanted. An old and terrible trick from the old world. But I plan to change all of that and I will need your help to do it."

 _Here she goes again._

"These are all well and good points Miss Hekmatyar but what does any of this have to do with you needing my help?"

I couldn't see her but I could hear the movement of her feet on the carpet of her cabin she was using her iconic charisma.

"I'm offering you an opportunity to be a part of the new world I'm going to usher in. One where your talents WILL benefit not only the world but yourself as well. You can unleash your knowledge without any form of restriction, to be who you set out to be. Come with me and you'll never be a prisoner to anyone else's ideology ever again, Elaina."

This was what Minami was telling me about and she was right. Koko does succeed in what she does by earning the trust of others. I smiled as I heard the connection of hands for a handshake of agreement. It looked like Koko got one of her Christmas presents early.

"When do I start?" Baburin asked.

"Well not now obviously. I'll give you the full details of where you'll be working at later but it's Christmas time! And since it's your first day of freedom you deserve something special. Damien!"

"Yeah?" I said walking away from the door. My destination was the galley.

"Chocolate chip pancakes! Make it happen!"

"Got it." It was gonna be a busy day.

"And don't think you're gonna be spending all day in the kitchen! You still owe me a present!"

"I'll get you a bottle of vodka later." She was nuts if she though I was gonna do any shopping on the day before Christmas.

I then heard footsteps running to me. Followed by someone leaping onto my back.

"You're not getting off that cheap! It was a bitch to rent that lodge so you owe me!"

"Ok! Shit! I'll do it after breakfast!" I said trying to hold my balance with her climbing all over me.

 _I take that back. It's gonna be a REAL busy day._


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40: Resolutions**

 **December 25** **th** **2010 1030 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Fruition,**_ **St. Petersburg, Russia**

Christmas Day. It had been a very long time since I celebrated a happy one with people I cared about. Last year I was passed out drunk in Kuala Lumpur, didn't even knew what day it was. So needless to say, it was a depressing and lonely day. Not really that much different from any other day until I wound up with Koko and her crew. But it was good to see that everyone on board the ship was in high spirits and celebrating in their own way.

After I had made breakfast the rest of us just did whatever we could to enjoy the day. There was no way in hell Koko would be able to get a suite rented in St. Petersburg in the short amount of time we were spending in Russia and we were leaving for Switzerland at midnight. Plus we weren't technically 'there'. Before we had returned to the city yesterday we chopped off the top of a small pine to make a makeshift Christmas Tree. We didn't have much for decorations so we just strung it up with office supplies like pens, paperclips, colored sticky notes, and the like. Even though Lehm and Wiley had just left to escort Dr. Baburin to the airport for her flight to South Africa and Dr. Miami, I would probably be the busiest today. I had just put the prime rib in the oven and it would be a few hours till we would eat again, all I had to do was check on it.

Most of the crew were just lounging about. Mao was talking on the phone with his family back in Laos, it wouldn't be the last call for the day. Ugo was playing his video games and Lutz and Tojo were playing against each other in gin. Koko for some reason had disappeared into her work and was talking to Minami via video conference since after breakfast. She told me to make sure that she was undisturbed for the next two hours, probably going over this 'Jormungand' thing again. It was good enough for me though, since I could spend the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon with Sophia. We really hadn't left our cabin so we were content with just being next to each other while watching a few classics on my laptop at the edge of the bed.

"How the hell is this a Christmas movie?" She asked.

"Miracles during the holidays and a man reconciling with his family. Duh."

"He just threw a guy off of the top of a building and how is that police car still able to go in reverse since the weight of the body would have damaged the engine?"

"You really need to learn how to suspend your disbelief."

It was a strange type of American cultural phenomenon that had gradually began to grow out of nowhere. But after going over it in detail, _Die Hard_ really is a Christmas movie. You have to look at it from the right perspective. Just because something takes place around Christmas doesn't necessarily mean it has anything to do with the holiday. Perfect example would be Dickens _A Christmas Carol_. It is at its core a ghost story about an old man who has only one opportunity left to save his soul from damnation.

"I hope were not doing this ALL day because I'm gonna be bored stiff."

She was an active type like myself but on days like today, you have an excuse to relax. I do wish that she could at least enjoy film like every other person does. Then again we all have our tastes in what we like and don't like.

"Well I got a prime rib that needs my full attention today so after this you're on your own."

She then gave me a deadpanned look. "You do know you have your moments when you're truly an asshole?"

"People either love me or hate me. It's part of my charm." I said putting my hands behind my head leaning further back against the brace of pillows.

"I hate to disappoint you but your 'charm' could use some improvement. Among other things." She grumbled.

 _Hmm. This could be a good part to segway into giving it to her._

"Oh really? I'm curious. What are these 'things'?" I said leaning up.

"You're a big boy, figure that shit out for yourself."

"I don't like riddles and puzzles. Tell me." I asked.

"Oh for God's sake! They have guns! Why don't those SWAT officers shoot back?"

"Don't ignore me. I want an answer Sophia." I demanded.

"What are you gonna do about it?" She said looking at me with a dare.

She forgot that I don't bluff.

"This."

I used one hand to press her head back down and the other to lift up her shirt over her face. Taking advantage of the confusion I blew several raspberry's on her stomach.

"STOP IT!" She said laughing hysterically while flailing about wildly.

"You asked for it!"

This continued on for about 30 seconds but with all the thrashing I was starting to run out of breath. Taking the opportunity she then pushed me up and wrapped her legs around me and using simple ground grappling techniques. She then threw me and herself off the bed at once with her landing on top of me. But before she could continue her, possible, assault I asked her to cool it.

"Whoa! Hold it! Time!" I said with the gesture as well.

"What?" She said with her hands out like claws.

"Look under the pillow. It's for you."

Confused, she then reached in and pulled out an unwrapped small dark blue box. Her one eye started to widen in shock, but I think she was really misreading the situation entirely. You don't get a lady like her something shiny.

"Just open the damn thing already."

She opened up the top and inside was a piece of stitched carefully proportioned piece of leather. After lifting it out of the box she could feel the softer felt material on the opposite side and the single adjustable band that extended from it. She then looked to me with an expression of 'why'.

"It's real hard to get something appropriate for a lady like you. So I'd figure I get you something nicer than that damn medical patch. Plus it shows more of your face. Merry Christmas Sophia."

She then formed a gentle smile at me and then looked to her new patch.

"You didn't have to do this Damien."

"Bullshit. Try it on, see how it fits."

She then took her old patch off. Minus the pale white and lifeless right eye with the small scar, she almost looks unrecognizable when I saw her whole face. Sorta like if you see someone when they aren't wearing glasses. After putting it on, she adjusted the strap and it disappeared into her darker than black hair. She then looked to me for approval.

"You know what I think. How do you like it?"

She then stood up and walked over to the mirror hanging on the door to the cabin.

"It looks smaller than it feels but it's just as comfortable as my old one."

I then got up off the floor and stood behind her. Then wrapped my arms around her waist and put my head on her shoulder next to her good eye. For a few moments we were just looking at ourselves in the mirror. Only the sounds of the cabin's heater and the movie on my laptop were in the background. I don't know much about relationships, but I know that it's not the mushy romantic things that build them. The simple moments or the ones where you learn about others imperfections or the way things happen in which you never expected. That being said though, I never thought my life would make such a major turn around. I just prayed to God that I don't screw _this_ up because I don't know what the consequences would really be if I did. I still didn't even knew if we both approached the level of what you would call 'Love' yet. I liked being with her, but with my head being such a mess it's hard to tell what some emotions are when your only ones have been anger and not giving a fuck for the last several years.

"You ok?" She asked as my expression was mellowing a bit.

"You still haven't said 'thank you' yet."

"Yeah, you're ok."

Bouncing back is what I do best. I wouldn't be good at my job if I wasn't.

"Well come on. How do you say 'Merry Christmas' in Finnish?" I asked out of genuine curiosity.

She smirked. "It's Hyvaa Joulua."

I wouldn't have minded this touching moment to go on a bit longer but I saw my watch in the reflection of the mirror. I had to check on the ten pound piece of meat roasting in the galley.

"Hold that thought. Gotta go check on dinner."

I tried to leave but she didn't let go of my hands.

"Uhh…kinda urgent Sophia. Plus I need to start making the sides."

"It can wait." She said simply.

…

 _Oh what the hell. This is a no brainer._

I kept the oven on a low enough temperature anyway. Speaking of heat, feeling comforting warmth in the winter season, wasn't always emotional. It could be physical as well.

 **December 26** **th** **2010 0120 Hours**

 **Flight 315 to Zurich, First Class Cabin**

The day came and went as usual but after New Years we were gonna get right back on it so we had to enjoy it while it lasted. A little before dinner, Koko got a call from Lehm saying that Baburin had gotten to Dr. Miami safely and that him and Wiley would catch up with us in Zurich in a few days. The meat came out with a well balanced presentation and there were no leftovers as usual. The question of why the entire inside of the meat wasn't all pink did come up. But I just said I lost track of time. Mostly because of the fact that Sophia and I took a little too much time and I had to wash myself up thoroughly afterwards but they didn't need to know that. Everyone was having so much fun eating and drinking that they didn't even notice Sophia's new eye patch until we all got onboard the plane.

I wasn't able to fall asleep this time. Not just because I was excited to see the place Koko had rented but because I think my insomnia was starting to act up again. I just couldn't keep my eyes shut and I was a little meticulous to make sure everything was perfect for the feast so I kinda binged myself with coffee. Thank God I didn't have to worry about New Years though. So after doing a little bit of pacing I decided to hit the in-flight bar but other than the bartender, I was the only one there. Everyone else had made enough Christmas cheer and decided to call it a day. I wasn't gonna stick around till last call but I had a guest.

"Can't sleep again?" Koko said as she sat down next to me as I finished my first round.

"I think the insomnia's creeping back up again. Pumping all that caffeine into my system probably wasn't a good idea either."

"And you thought that would be any better?" She said pointing to the empty glass of ice with the remnants of scotch.

"What else am I gonna do to keep myself occupied?"

"Fondle Sophia in her sleep?" She said while making squeezing motions with her hands.

The bartender then paused for a moment as he was rearranging the glasses and bottles. Unsure if he heard Koko correctly.

"Unlike you I don't go for the most obvious choice." I swirled the ice around. "Join me?"

"Might as well. I'll have what he's having." She said mentioning to the bartender.

He poured us two doubles on the rocks and placed them in front of us. We then toasted and enjoyed our spirits. But speaking of those, hers was a little low especially since we were about to fly out. I did notice Lehm consoling her over something earlier but I didn't pick up on what it was about. This was the first time in a while I was in such high spirits for this time of year. So I didn't want anything to ruin it for anyone.

"You know I've always seen you drink things straight up. You not a fan of cocktails?" She asked.

"What city boys have? Hell naw."

She then started to giggle. "You don't do it often but it is cute when your southern drawl comes out. I noticed that you speak two different ways. Normal and that, why?"

"I just picked up on the accent only a little when I was a kid and because I was born there. Doesn't mean that I spoke like everyone else. Just a piece of heritage, nothing more."

"I wish I could say the same."

I knew the reason why. She and her brother were born on a ship and never legally given a nationality. Even if she ever found out about her Persian heritage, I doubt she would really care. Those that claim themselves as citizens of the world do like to be high and mighty sometimes. But I think the elephant in the room had stood there long enough.

"So are you ever going to tell me why you've been acting so glum as of recent?"

She didn't answer.

"It's not because that Russian doctor changed her mind is it?"

Still silent and continued to drink. I then put my hand on top of the glass to get her to listen.

"You know you can talk to me about anything. So what the hell is wrong?"

She sighed. "I didn't want to go to Switzerland because that's where HCLI's home office is."

I just stared at her confused with my eyebrow raised. I already knew that, but I didn't want to go there to keep doing more work. I wanted to see the Alps. But it looked like she didn't want to discuss the subject anymore and glared at me. I was a bit taken back by it.

"Is something going on that you're not telling us about?"

She then downed the double in one gulp and then stood up but I grabbed her wrist before she stormed off. I knew for a fact it couldn't have been just that. She would have said something way before now.

"Hey! I'm trying to help! What is your problem?"

Her growing frustration was apparent that she didn't want to discuss the matter any further and a plane was not exactly private.

"It's none of your concern Damien." She said taking back her hand and storming off.

"Wait Koko…! Aww shit." I said running my hand through my hair.

 _What the hell's wrong with her?_

It was too late to ask now. It'd have to wait until we got to Zurich. I then looked at my half empty glass and back to the bartender. He did have a look of condolences for me but I wasn't looking for any.

"Make this last one a triple."

 **December 30** **th** **2010 1300 Hours**

 **Lucerne, Switzerland, Palace Luzern**

Unlike Russia the scenery around here was rather beautiful. Of course the snow was everywhere but that view of the mountains never got boring. Not to mention the various ice spots on the lake. Today though was a day to relax until New Years since the last few days all of us have been driving around the country side taking in the sights. The amount of pictures I took just from walking around Zurich, Bern, and Geneva let me fill up my second scrap book and got me a good few pages into a third. The old towns were real pleasant to walk through and some areas were archeological sites that dated all the way back to the Roman Empire. With the exception of nature most of the cites were untouched for several hundred years while the other countries around it waged never ending war. Oddly though it's influences came from all of its surrounding neighbors, with the varying styles of architecture, traditions, and especially languages it was kind of like a mini US. We didn't even need to worry about the possibility of a language gap since most of us knew three out of the four languages spoken.

Yesterday and the day before was the nature portion of the trip. We didn't necessarily do any mountain climbing in the Alps but we did a fair share of hiking. The glaciers that were the source of several rivers were larger than I thought and the view from the tops of the valleys were awe inspiring. Especially where Lauterbrunnen was at along with some of its waterfalls. I could only imagine what they would look like when it was spring and summer time. Some of us did try to do some skiing and ice skating though. Truth be told I never practiced any type of winter sport with the exception of hunting. More often than not when the winter months roll around I'm a bit of a shut in. I never really cared about the cold, but that didn't mean I wanted to feel constantly miserable. I decided to stay behind in the lodges while everyone else was out. Not to say that I wasn't trying anything new, I decided to try out ice skating with Lutz and the girls. But decided to quit altogether after planting my face in the ice three times in a row. Tojo actually surprised the hell out of me on how good he was in skiing. He told me that long before he even considered working for the JSDF that his family made frequent winter trips to the mountains in Japan. His skill on a pair of ski's hadn't rusted.

Today though we were at some sort of luncheon with the other guests of the hotel. Couldn't do much else since tomorrow we would go to the town square to celebrate the countdown for New Years. I did take the previous day when everyone was skiing to shop since I still had to get something for Koko. Work came before play during that time so I had ample time to think. Since mythology was frequently on my mind I came up with the idea of getting her something from a different mythology, Celtic to be precise.

"I never really liked these high class things. Everyone seems so smug. Plus they're staring at me more than they should."

"I told you before people like us can't really blend in. Lehm said he wanted to do this so enjoy the free food and wine."

Sophia and I were just sitting by the large and ornate woodburning fireplace with elk antlers above it while the other guests went about their business. I never really pegged Lehm to be a wine connoisseur, but then again no one ever thought I was an excellent cook. He and Koko were standing by one of the windows looking out toward the river with glasses of red in hand. After she then turned to face him there was a reflection off of her chest from the sun shining through the window. After browsing by a jeweler or two I chose something that was appropriate, a silver Celtic Sheild. A protection charm meant to ward off evil is what I told her but she then asked if that was a good idea since it might scare away some of her customers. Naturally she was joking, but more often than not those in this line of work do what we say in the literal sense. And some aren't good at hiding their emotions, Sophia in particular when her jealousy comes through.

"Looks like I did good this year. And great since I only had to get something for just you two."

Sophia didn't respond. Instead she was looking away with her arms crossed.

"Oh God are you still gonna pull the jealous teenager shit? It was a late Christmas present and I got you YOURS first."

"You could have asked for my help. I know what she wants better than you."

"Ok how did your wallet fair against that train of thought?"

She then looked at me with a deadpanned stare and I put on my smug smirk. From what the guys told me, Koko did on occasion sucker Sophia into getting her things she wanted but just didn't want to pay for herself. In essence it's kind of a way of a hustlers way of staying rich, you keep asking others for money.

"Grr…I wonder if they have any salmon left."

Before she got up I grabbed her hand.

"Can you get me some of that cheesecake too? Please?" I said in my rare gentle tone.

She then squeezed my hand and returned a warm smile. "Strawberry or regular?"

"Strawberry, if there's any left."

She left and I continued to relax looking at the flame in the fireplace. It was starting to get a little low so after prodding it with a poker to break up the coals I threw two more logs on. When I turned around though, Koko was sitting on the leather couch with a half empty glass of wine.

"Sup?" I asked.

"Sup with you?"

"Well I'm glad your acting a lot more like your usual self. Or is the wine forcing it out?" I said as I sat next to her.

She just finished her glass as a response and set it down on the table in front of us, the silver pendant dangling from her neck. It did look nice on her, I couldn't lie.

"See anything you like?" She teased. And I was staring a little too much.

"I should be asking you that question." I said motioning to her neck.

"It's lovely." She then held it in between her fingers. "It may sound strange to you but I'm not really the type of girl that goes for accessories. A watch would have been fine for me, you didn't need to do this."

"Hmm. That's what Sophia said but I did it anyway."

She then leaned over and put her head on my shoulder.

"Except for losing R, I'm glad this year has turned out the way it has."

 _Oh boy. I know where this is leading._

"I don't know if blowing shit up and bullets flying up our asses falls into the category of 'glad'." I said to mislead her. Hoping to play it off.

"I'm not talking about events Damien. I'm talking about how good our fortune has been and I'm not talking about money either. It's that a lifetime of hard work is now starting to bear fruit."

Her science project no doubt. "So are you finally gonna tell me what it is?"

She then took her head off my shoulder to look me in the eye.

"I'm sorry Damien. I told you before, a girl has to have some secrets."

"Well is that secret so personal that it warrants that we technically kidnapped someone from Russian military R&D?"

"You didn't complain or protest for one second so why are you concerned about that now?" She said with a slight glare.

"I want confirmation that what we're doing is not gonna come back and bite us in the ass down the road. I'm concerned about what will happen to ALL of us." I said thumbing back to the crew scattered around the room.

Her smile came back. "It's like I told Minami. As long as we keep the powers that be guessing, no one is going to make a move against us." She then wrapped herself around my arm. "That includes you."

No more beating around the bush. "Still don't want to give up huh?"

"I won't lose to anyone, not even my sister."

"I didn't realize you had one. I would very much like to meet her."

We both froze as we heard the voice of a old man from behind us. We both knew who it was but Koko didn't know that I had met him once before. We both turned around to see the ruler of a multibillion dollar shipping and weapons empire, Floyd Hekmatyar. I did my best to look confused as if I never met him before but Hekmatyar just stood there looking at us if he didn't care. Koko on the other hand grafted into her all business mode, the look in her eyes appeared that she was absolutely furious.

"Koko. Glad to see you again, I didn't think you'd be here this time of year." He said with opening pleasantries.

"Father." Koko said trying not to sound angry.

He then looked to me. "Ah forgive me. I rarely see my daughter so I'm not fully acquainted with everyone she employ's. I'm Floyd Hekmatyar."

He extended his hand to me, looking me right in the eye, without losing his expression. Knowing Koko would literally blow a head gasket if she found out I talked to her father before, I decided to keep the charade going. I stood up, straightened my leather jacket and took his hand with a firm grip.

"Damien Andrushko. Pleasure, sir."

"Likewise. How long have you worked with Koko?"

"Nine months. But your son is the one that hired me on and that was in February."

"Kasper?" He paused to take a moment to 'think'. "Ah yes I remember that he recently picked up someone that could be beneficial to the company. I didn't think it would be you."

"Yeah he and I have crossed paths more than once since then." I said half sarcastic and half serious.

"Anyway, I'm surprised you're here Koko. I've been meaning to talk to you about a few things."

"I didn't want to be. But unless this has anything to do with work I have nothing to discuss."

Floyd just continued to look at her daughter like if she was speaking to him normally. He must have heard this tone from her so many times it must have become white noise to him. When we first had our secret meeting with each other he didn't sound like a deadbeat dad but then again I didn't experience what Koko did growing up. But he was only saying hello to her and Koko just looked like she was offended in the worst possible way. I know the lady has secrets but unless he deliberately tried to hurt her in some way or form what the hell's so bad that it warrants an attitude like this towards your own father?

"There actually is a few things I need to talk to you about. It's a good coincidence you're here because I've tried to get a hold of you for several days."

 _Well she did have her reasons but I doubt she'd tell him the truth._

She then looked at me with an expression of disapproval, why I have no idea. But I returned a look for her that she should just hear him out.

"What's so important?" She asked.

"In two months Kasper is going to announce the debut of the Hekmatyar Global Grid. I need you to make sure that the command and transmission function software will be up to par whenever the system goes online."

I then saw Sophia approach us with the cheesecake in hand. I took a few steps back to her and let them have their conversation. Floyd politely waved at Sophia and she perked her head up and nodded at his greeting.

"The data processing tests are already scheduled for the next two weeks and the mainframe construction will begin immediately following that."

I then tuned out of their conversation as Sophia handed me my plate. She didn't take her eye off Koko and her father.

"Now what's wrong?" I asked her.

"You want to know why Koko has been in a bit of a foul mood? That's why." She said pointing to the father and daughter.

"Ok you need to educate me on a few things. What's riling her up so much just by talking to him?"

"One; Zurich is where he lives so naturally he would want to check up on her and that's why she didn't want to come here. Putting it bluntly, she hates her father. Two; the only reason she's doing this is because you asked so some of this is your fault. And Three; for years he's been trying to get her into following on how HCLI should operate _his_ way. Koko has been wanting to break away from him but unfortunately a majority of her financial support comes from the company."

"Come on Sophia, you know as well as I do that this doesn't have anything to do with money."

"I didn't say that it did. And you've been right about another thing we've talked about, pretty much the whole crew has. I don't really know how her mind works."

"It does travel rather fast. You're not lying." I said taking a bite of cake and tuning back to them.

Koko still didn't lose her expression of frustration on Floyd.

"We'll since that's out of the way do you plan to at least stay until after the New Year?"

"I have other business to attend to father. I won't have time. And if that's all, we're done."

As she went to leave Floyd spoke up while checking his watch.

"Does that include the continued liquidation of all your money into this toy factory you've built with Professor Amada?"

She froze and her eyes widened in shock but she didn't turn around.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't notice or figure it out?" He then put his hands in his pockets and looked at her for an explanation. "Those investment's that you've made into it for the last two years may have been small but they were consistent. Why toys of all things?"

She then turned around to face him. "I missed the part where this concerns you."

"It concerns me because you know as well as I do that you never put all of your eggs in one basket."

"It is my project and none of your business. What I do on my own free time has nothing to do with you."

"I'm trying to help you make the right decision Koko, not the logical one."

"What I'm doing is for my own benefit! Not yours!"

From both their tones the father was trying to get her to understand reason but the daughter acted rebellious as if she knew from personal experience. Their argument was starting to draw attention from not only the crew but the other patrons. Anger was a rare sight with Koko and like me, she wasn't subtle. Something was going on behind the scenes in HCLI but that was not the primary concern for right now. This was going to turn into an ugly shouting match and soon if somebody didn't do something. I walked to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Koko calm down. You're starting to make a scene."

She then swatted my arm away. "And you! This is why I didn't want to come here! I can't stand being anywhere near him!" She said pointing to her father. His face beginning to sadden.

"What is wrong with you? Whatever he's doing he's only showing concern for YOU! How is this a problem?"

"Enough Damien." Floyd said in a calm manner. "It appears that I was too forward in asking Koko about what she's been doing. I will take my leave now." He then walked away from Koko but stopped next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Hopefully we meet again under more peaceful circumstances."

The look on his face meant he did not want this to escalate. As he then started to make towards the exit, several of the male patrons then set down their entrees or glasses and then got up to follow him. Two got in front of him and led him out as he waved at Lehm and Wiley. He knew that we would be here today, and he sent them ahead like scouts probing the enemy lines. It appeared that my awareness needed some adjustment, as well as Koko's attitude.

"Koko…" But before I could say anything else she pushed me out of the way and stormed out of the luncheon in the opposite direction Floyd left. Sophia cursing as she left to follow her to ensure that she wasn't wandering around by herself. Leaving me alone by a fire with a lot of confusion.

 **December 31** **st** **2010 2359 Hours**

Needless to say after Floyd's visit yesterday Koko became very withdrawn from us. She wouldn't even talk to Sophia much less even me. Every family has skeleton's in their closet, but whatever Koko has with her father doesn't hold enough weight that it would warrant that. Thank God though that she didn't know that I spoke to him once before or else it would have just added more fuel to the fire. I know that some things are not my business especially when it comes to families, but Koko saved me so it makes it my business. Only problem though is that she's wrapping herself in so many layers that it's impossible to reach her without hurting her. It also had some unintended consequences as well. Sophia was very stern on me to not try and reason with her until we were out of Switzerland. It was best to let her handle this one so I did what she said.

As the people of Lucerne focused their attention on the river, I stood away from the crowd alone in the back. The snow had covered what would appear to be a garden in the springtime. With waist high walls and stone flower pots at the end of each section that led towards a walkway that would take you back to the hotel or around the garden. A glass of bourbon without ice was sitting in the snow that covered the walls so that it could chill and not be watered down. It would stay there until after midnight as I took a cigar out from the inner pocket of my black winter trench coat. Beneath it was my black three piece suit, that I normally wore for formal protection details along with my two .45's that I felt as I pulled out my tobacco with a pack of matches. I took off one of my gloves so that I could hold the match properly as I bit off the end of the cigar and lit it up. I wasn't the type of person that likes to do the cliché resolutions that most people like to promise to themselves every new year. The countdown then began as I heard the people shout while looking at the large clock with Roman numerals set up at the river.

"Five, four, three, two, one. Happy birthday to me." I said as I grabbed my drink from the snow.

Fireworks were set up on boats on the lake. They then began to fire off into the night sky like the sound of a mortar. Beginning with multiple ones that fired off at once the sky filled with a varied assortment of sparkles and streams of gold, blue, green, red, and purple. I then took a long drag from my cigar, held it, to a gulp of bourbon, and exhaled.

With that, I toasted my twenty sixth year of life.

"And people say my habits are bad." Said the very recognizable bored drawl to my left.

"Happy New Year old man." I said looking up at the fireworks and not at him.

The scent of gunpowder was now beginning to fall to earth. While we stood there and enjoyed the view, he probably was giving me as much time as possible. Koko was still angry about the previous day and she kinda limited the amount of stuff we could do on our remaining free time. She wanted to get out of Switzerland as fast as possible.

"Has she calmed down at least?" I asked as one didn't work the way it should have and just exploded as if a cannon had went off.

He, unlike me, was dressed in a simple green winter coat. No scarf, no gloves, and he forgot to shave again. He had all the physical features that to the casual observer, appeared to be just an uncaring old man. With a half drank glass of champagne in his left hand. Too bad that if someone pissed him off it'd be the last thing they'd ever do.

"Still acting like a brat. But she stopped yelling."

Slow drag, exhale, nip. "I know that it's best not to get involved in another family's squabbles but what the fuck is the deal between Koko and her dad?"

He then took out a cigarette along with his old zippo. Story time again.

"To be perfectly honest, I never once fully understood Floyd. I guess that's the only thing Koko shares with him, maintaining a state of constant enigma. If you're asking why she acts the way she does to him, I truly don't know."

A very large one bursted with five gold streams that popped into small red ones.

"She did say that her father told her to wear a mask and armor your heart to things. Makes sense when you're running a business but life is the total opposite. You think Koko took what he said a little too far?"

He looked at the glow at the end of his stick.

"Maybe. But at that point in time when he was raising, well I should say 'raising', her and Kasper I didn't really care so I didn't pay much attention to it. Like I told you I joined this gig cause it's fun and it continues to be. The only thing that brings me down sometimes is the drama that pops up every now and then."

Three had went up at once. A red one in the center with blue on opposite sides.

"I would say that that sounds a bit selfish. But coming from me that would sound very hypocritical."

"Hmpf. On the battlefield you have to close yourself off to certain things. They just make the task at hand harder than it needs to be. It happens a lot when you're young, but take it from me. The older you get the less you give a fuck about things. Doesn't mean you shouldn't care altogether though. But take what you can handle."

"Mmm. Is that why you're always bored?"

He let out his distinct one note chuckle. "When you're the best, everything gets boring after a while."

 _Shit. No wonder Chiquita couldn't stand him._

I kept my thoughts to myself that time or it would have turned into some sort of dick measuring contest. Taking one last swig of bourbon I saw that the last of the fireworks went up, signaling the end of the show. There was a big applause and cheers from the crowd as well.

"Well I don't wanna cut our time short but that's all your gonna get. Koko said that if you don't come back to the suite right now she'll hunt you down and plant her foot up your ass. Her words."

"Kinky." I said undeterred.

"Well if you want to stay here then I'll start off with telling all of my greatest accomplishments."

I got the point and we started making our way back to the hotel. But not without the last word.

"Like on how you earned the title of 'World's Oldest Fart'. Cause I already heard that one."

"Bragg must be completely unrecognizable since I left there. When the fuck did they start taking in boy band members and shoot them up with horse testosterone?"

 _Dick._

 **January 1** **st** **2011 0030 Hours**

While everyone else was enjoying their evening, we had to fly out back to England tomorrow morning. Koko said early preparations for another lengthy trip but I knew she just wanted to get away from this place. As I was walking back to my room with my coat in hand I loosened my tie and unbuttoned my blazer. I was just gonna rinse out my mouth with mouthwash and then hit the hay. But as I opened the door to my room, I noticed that it was completely empty. No surprise there, it looked like Sophia wanted to watch over Koko tonight.

After throwing off my suit I decided to brush my teeth as well. Make a little extra effort to get the stink out of my mouth and then crawl under the sheets. While this had been one of my better holiday seasons in recent years, there were a lot of mixed events that happened. But I know a losing battle when I see it. Whatever was going on with Koko and her dad it was best that I leave it alone. Her "New World" though was a different story. What she was doing was grabbing the negative attention of world powers and that's something that I can do without. As I was contemplating on what to do next by looking at myself in the mirror I heard the door to my room open and close. Not expecting anything hostile I wiped my face off and then looked to see who it was. It was Koko sitting on my bed, she was wrapped in a bed comforter and her hair was a mess. I knew what she wanted, and I didn't have time for this shit. I would give her one chance, cause I can only take so much stubbornness. I walked past her to turn on the lamp next to the bed and then sat next to her. She at least did not smell of alcohol.

"Well?"

Silence. I then contorted my face into a disgruntled look.

"If you're going to continually throw all these wild emotions around, not tell me what's wrong, act like a damn child and then expect me to be your comforter then you're sorely mistaken. You want to keep acting like this then we have nothing to discuss until our next gig." I stood up and got in front of her. "And don't think that your fetal appearance is going to force any sympathy out of me. I'm not a fan of weakness for no reason. Stay here while I get Sophia."

As I was about to storm out she hopped off the bed and ran in front of me, then pulled me into one of her embraces.

"This isn't going to work this time Koko. Get off me." I said trying to break her away from me without hurting her. But this time it was like she was hanging on for dear life.

"Your right." She said finally breaking the silence. "I shouldn't act weak around you. And I also shouldn't have let you see how immature I became because of my family's drama. Your life already has gotten so much better, I don't want to be the one responsible for making it worse again."

As she was finally starting to admit that she was wrong in her actions, I then put my hands on her shoulders.

"Whoa. Hold on now. You haven't done that at all. The only reason I'm upset is because you constantly put up barriers to hide all the things I want to know about you. If you continue to bottle up all that emotion it's gonna burst and you'll be worse off than you were before. Trust me I know this from experience."

She then loosened her grip a bit.

"It's not that I won't tell you it's that I can't. I've spend my life trying to make this plan work and now it's finally in my reach. All I have to do is grab it but I just need you to trust me. I can't say it any other way."

She was sounding like she was pleading. But with what she'd been doing recently was making an influence on a world scale. Something I was not prepared for unless everything was taken into account on what might or will happen. She said her plan was almost complete, but I realized I was asking the wrong question.

"Ok. What is it that you are hoping to achieve when your plan succeeds?" I said as I shut my eyes.

I then felt her hands on my face as she pulled my head down to her while she stood up on her toes to reach me. As I opened my eyes to what she was about to do it was like I had no control over my actions. Like I was in a trance, as our lips connected. If this was her absolute confession, then she had a hand that she could play in which I had nothing to counter. Her answer would be truth. After what seemed like an eternity she backed away and looked right at me with those ice blue eyes.

"World peace. The same answer I gave you on the day we met. And in that I can give you something within that as well."

 _I can't believe she's still holding on to that false reality._

"What do you hope to give by getting something that isn't possible?"

Her hands were still on my face as she gently stroked it. She then smiled gently but with confidence, she truly believe she could do it.

"How would you like to finally go home?"

I had no words.


	42. Chapter 41

**Author's Note: I wanna take this brief moment to express something.**

 **It's been seventeen years since that horrible day. Needless to say since then the world has become very different than what all of us had envisioned our future should be. Truth be told it's been far more negative than positive. Conflict will always be a part of simply being human, we can't get rid of it. But don't hate those that want to keep you and your homes safe. Whether be American, British, German, French, Polish, Australian, Russian, Turkish, Italian, Egyptian, Israeli, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Czech, Saudi, Nigerian, it doesn't matter where on the map. Fight against those that want to continuously breed the cycle of blind hate and do not let them continue to feed off of your fear and anger.**

 **That being said, I wanted to post this yesterday but _work_ tends to take priority over here. Good thing is I'm almost done. Now we can expand a bit more on Koko's trip through Asia. And I also wanted to make a clarification in the previous chapter about _Die Hard_ being a Christmas movie. I wrote that BEFORE the Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis came out. Bruce said it himself that it ISN'T a Christmas movie. It's a little sad to know that after so many years, endless amounts of fans will have to accept that as a fact. But he wouldn't of said that unless he had the facts to back it up.**

 **The World Serpent now begins to wrap around the Earth.**

 **Chapter 41: Thunder and Smoke**

 **January 17** **th** **2011 1025 Hours**

 **Ministry of State Security Headquarters, Beijing, China**

After pouring himself another cup of Oolong Tea, Kang Shaowen had completed his preliminary reports on the recent spike in US intelligence activities in north Africa. Routine practices of any nations intelligence gathering agency but this was to make sure that the Committee's national interests would not be affected in a negative way concerning the recent outbreak of violence occurring in some of the Arab states. But he did not care about the petty grievances of an overzealous people. Only the mission of the MSS, which was to maintain the security of the state against any and all who would do it harm.

After putting the seal of approval on the outer folder, he then exited his office to give them to his secretary for delivery. With tea in hand, he saw through the window to his homelands capital that the snow was still falling.

"Jiang zhexie chuandi gei daoyan. Gaosu ta wo qianglie jianyi ta bixu yu di san ju lianxi. Women zai aiji de zijyan keneng chuyu weixian zhi zhong."

(Pass these along to the director. Tell him that I strongly recommend that he must get in touch with Bureau Number Three. Our resources in Egypt might be in jeopardy.)

The lady immediately put a hold on her current work, took the folder without question, and hurried to her destination. Her superior may have looked like an groomed, round faced, educated, professional. But he didn't need to scowl or sound authoritative to remind her and those who worked for him that he had the authority to carry out the wishes of the state by whatever means he saw fit. It was in a different name, but it still relied on the same merciless system founded by the communists over half a century ago. Many of the worlds most infamous intelligence agencies used their talents in ways that always were outside the bounds of international laws and even simple morals. But those whose governments came from the idea of socialism and communism were exceptionally brutal and they would achieve their goals by any means necessary.

As the agent of the MSS was about to return to his office, his second in command came through the door with urgency written on his face.

"Wu shi shenme?"

(What is it Wu?)

"Kang zhuren, ni keneng xian kan kan zhege. Jintian zaoshang women youyi wei fangke lai dao Shanghai."

(Chief Kang, you might want to take a look at this. We had a visitor arrive in Shanghai this morning.)

Wu Yuxiang handed his superior several photographs taken from surveillance cameras at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. While black and white it was a clear and precise picture focusing on a woman with another group that had arrived from Europe. As he flipped through the photos he was a bit pulled back from the woman's tall, athletic and slightly aggressive figure. He then got to the second to last picture that showed her passport identification when she and her group had landed. If it wasn't for the black eyepatch, scowl, and lack of a smile, the woman looked rather beautiful with her fair skin, black hair, and a gold colored eye. He read through it and saw that her name was Ariana Petrov, a Lithuanian national.

"Zhege ren women yinggai zhidao ma?" Kang asked.

(Is this someone we should know about?)

"Wulun ta yu shei zai yiqi dou you nengli zuo chu yixie feichang hao de weizao pin. Danshi tamen meiyou kaolu dao women bu hui tingzhi zhuibu mousha jiefangjun chengyuan de ren. Ta keyi gaiming, dan ta wufa gaibian ziji de mianmao. Kan kan zuihou yige Kang."

(Whoever she's with has the ability to make some pretty good forgeries. But they didn't take into account that we don't cease our hunt for people who murder members of the PLA. She can change her name but she can't change her face. Take a look at the last one Kang.)

Kang knew that Wu was talking about the upgraded facial recognition match software that was recently purchased for his department. It's rate of development in his country had been at a faster pace than the rest of the world. He believed the privacy of a citizen was often contradictory to the greater good. Making it easier for them to do their jobs. With his curiosity peaked he flipped the paper and saw a familiar sketch that had been made at the end of summer the previous year by workers that managed to survive the massacre at Hong Taiyang Steel. Her hair was shorter and the eyepatch was different but the description matched her perfectly. The sketch was clipped to another dossier which highlighted what had to have been the real woman.

"Ni querenle ma?" He said with a glare towards Wu wanting him to be absolutely sure.

(Did you confirm this?)

"Shenzhi tongguo guoji xingjing zhzhi jinxingle bisai, tamen dai huile tamen suo youngyou de yiqie. Ta de zhenming shi Sophia Velmer. Fenlan Kuaisu Bushu Budui de qianren shaoxiao, yeshi zuijin tuixiu de Guofang Buzhang de nuer. Zai ta de budui bei tusha zhihou, zai feizhou de yici rendao zhuyi renwu zhong, ta bei wuqing de jiegule. Bujiu zhihou ta bei Hekmatyar he Chevalier Logistics Incorporated zhaomu. Ju cheng canyule xuduo qiangzhan, sheji guyi sharen de shijian yiji yu ge zhong fanzui zhzhi de guanxi. Cong na shi qi, ta yizhi shi gongsi jichengren Koko Hekmatyar de siren baobiao. Jinguan ta nianling hen da, dan ta reng shi shijie shang zui zhongyao de junhuo shang zhi yi."

(Even ran it though Interpol and they came back with everything they had. Her real name is Sophia Velmer. A former Major in the Finnish Rapid Deployment Force and the daughter of the recently retired Chief of Defence. She was dishonorably discharged after her unit got massacred in, of all things, a humanitarian mission in Africa. Not long after that she was recruited by Hekmatyar and Chevalier Logistics Incorporated. Allegedly involved in numerous shootouts, incidents involving deliberate homicide, and association with various criminal organizations. And she's been the personal bodyguard of the company's heir, Koko Hekmatyar, ever since. Despite her age, she's one of the foremost arms dealers in the world.)

"Ta de shenfen shi shenme?"

(What's _her_ status?)

"Ta hen ganjing. Huozhe jiu wuqi jingxiao shang er yan, jin keneng ganjing. Ta yijing zai meiguo zhongyang qingbao ju de leida shang daile yiduan shijian, da tamen meiyou dui ta de tuandui caiqu renhe xingdong. Weisheme wo bu zhidao."

(She's clean. Or as clean as you can possibly be as far as weapons dealers are concerned. She has been on the American CIA's radar for some time now but they haven't made any moves on her group. Why I don't know.)

Kang tapped his finger on the paper several times thinking.

"Ta de guzhu bushi women guanxin de wenti. Ta fuze baokuo Chen Jiangjun zai ne de xuduo jiefangjun chengyuan de siwang. Dang ta jueding kaishi ta de xiao hengchongzhizhuang shi, ta bing bu jinshen. Wo buzaihu ta weisheme zheyang zuo, dan ta jiang bei sheng zhi yi fa, binig zai shengzi de jintou." He closed the folder and handed it back to Wu with determination. "Gaosu tuandui zai shi fenzhong nei daoda huiji shi. Women yao qu Shanghai."

(Her employer is not our concern. She is responsible for the deaths of many members of the PLA, including General Chan. And she wasn't being discreet when she decided to start her little rampage. I don't care why she did it, but she WILL be brought to justice and be at the end of a rope. Tell the team to get themselves to the conference room in ten minutes. We're going to Shanghai.)

Wu nodded and left the room in a hurry, Kang then went back to his office to collect his coat and his phone. This opportunity was too perfect. After months of searching the task that he had been assigned to had been practically given to him. This was another opportunity to prove his loyalty to his motherland and bring an enemy of the Peoples Republic of China to justice. As he buttoned up his suit he made a call as he exited his office to meet with his team. Determination and authority in every step.

"Buzhang? Zhe shi Kang zhuren, wo you jinji xiaoxi gei ni."

(Minister? It's Chief Kang, I have urgent news for you.)

…

"Aisaiebiya de xiji zhe. Ta zai Zhongguo, zai Shanghai. Wo ganggang zhengshile zhe yidian."

(The attacker in Ethiopia. She's in China, in Shanghai. I just confirmed it.)

…

"Liaojie. Wulun sh haishi huo, wo duhi ba ta dai jinqu."

(Understood. Dead or alive, I will bring her in.)

He was given the excuse to cut loose. He couldn't help but smile deviously.

 **January 19** **th** **2011 1135 Hours**

 **Shanghai, China**

This was our first stop on our lengthy business trip across Asia. We were flying with a lot more cargo but as long as we kept up the gesture of playing by the rules no one would care that we were hauling around enough weapons to start a small war. Not including the ones we had hidden under our winter wear. After opening up to us a little bit, Koko told us that we were essentially acquiring the necessary parts for the HCLI Logistics Network that was going to be announced next month. I was glad that we were going around buying things legally but I couldn't shake the fact that she was doing this as part of her project too. After only spending the night with her because she didn't want to be alone, she told me that me being able to finally go home without consequence was just a perk with what she could do with her project. After recomposing myself after such a massive shock I demanded that she explain how the fuck she would be able something off that was, in a sense, being infallible. But she still stood firm on its secrecy, she would not budge. But when I started to force her out of my room she grabbed me and looked at me with tears in her eyes for me to trust her. That she had came so far in accomplishing her dream, that it was within her reach, and she wanted to share it with me. One thing led to another and eventually she fell asleep on my shoulder.

What I did though, didn't come without consequence. Even though both of us told her that nothing had happened, Sophia was angry at Koko spending the night with me and she never got angry at her. The rivalry between the two of them had in the literal definition, exploded. I was partly to blame for this as well, I haven't really expressed genuine feelings of compassion towards Sophia, only enjoyable comfort of being together. But that had quickly deteriorated as we hardly spoke to each other in weeks. The crew had tended to stay out of the drama, but I could tell that they wanted to do something. Only problem was Sophia's stubbornness and me knowing that I did fuck up, so they didn't know how. It was a good idea to walk around the city to get to our assigned meeting spot where Koko wanted to meet this guy that wrote computer algorithms. Despite the cold and the crowd, it gave us all a chance to clear our heads.

The foundation of this city dates back over 6,000 years and given its location, its name literally translates to "Upon The Sea." It was and continues to be the cultural influencer of China, basing in on a style called Haipai, their version of East meets West. It began after the British victory over China in the First Opium War when they made Shanghai open to many more foreign traders. Despite the European powers carving China up and away from the ever weakening Qing Dynasty this caused a massive increase in economic prosperity and attracted many immigrants to fuel industry and cause great diversity in culture of the city. But just because the city was glamorous didn't mean it was unsusceptible to war and China has waged some of the bloodiest ones in recorded history. The Warring States, collapsing dynasty's, The Taiping Rebellion, Japanese occupation, and the Chinese Civil War which brought forth Mao Zedong. His so called "Great Leap Forward" and "Cultural Revolution" with communism in general led to the imprisonment, execution, and starvation of roughly 40 million Chinese.

Despite not being as authoritarian as they were once before, I wondered why all these people we were passing by became comfortable in living under tyranny. Maybe if you solidify your power enough and kill enough people, nobody bothers to care anymore about what kind of life you live, much less even the world. And as an American, who the fuck am I to judge? We broke, rebuilt, and broke again countless treaties with the Indians. We took what was left of Spain's colonies after a misinformed report of the _Maine_ blowing up near Cuba. Carved apart Europe into our own factions just like the Nazi's did after World War II. Kinda forced Japan to become a new nation under our guidance and no one else's after we completely obliterated EVERYTHING on the island nation. During the Cold War we only focused on stopping the spread of Communism, while letting human rights atrocities and dictators flourish. And of course most recently, our now seemingly perpetual fight against the Middle East and Islam. Of course, considering what I did, my loyalty to my country was just ancient history now. It might seem selfish but just thinking about what _I'm_ going to be doing for the day and the next day for myself tends to be less stressful on my brain.

"Any luck trying to talk to her again?" Lutz said nudging me with his elbow. Bringing me out of my train of thought.

We were on rear guard while Sophia and Tojo were on point, Lehm and Ugo were covering Koko while Mao and Wiley were covering the flanks. Not in a deliberate formation of course but with the density of the crowd it didn't look suspicious.

"I tried when we landed but she hasn't even looked at me unless it has anything to do with work."

It wasn't terribly cold out today but as the next breeze came in I sunk my neck in between my shoulders and tightened my trench coat around me. Lutz quickly took his gloved hands out of his pockets to adjust his scarf and continued his walk while reacting from the quick snap of cold.

"Can you really blame her?" He said as he looked right at her. "I know I've said this over and over again but what the hell were you thinking?"

The obvious answer was that I wasn't. Karl was the only one I told about in full detail about what happened. Despite his occasional misogyny towards Sophia and, when he was brave enough, Koko when they weren't around he saw both of them as more than friends. He trusted his life with them and it gave him every excuse to tell me I should have known better.

"I won't make any more excuses. But I can't reconcile if she can't even look at me."

"Apologies and earning someone's trust back are two completely different things Damien. Regardless of the situation that happened, how did you think that this would turn out? In spite of all of the things that Sophia is, she's still a woman."

Normally the crew always addresses her as Valmet, out of either just as how she preferred to be called or out of fear of being folded up like an accordion. But when Lutz spoke of her with her actual name, he did it in the defense of her. As a real friend would. I just kept silent and let him continue.

"In the years that I've worked with her she may act like violence personified but she's actually one of the strongest and most loyal people I've ever met. She always stayed positive even in the most dire straits. Even when you came on board she wanted to make sure that you were worthy enough to be a part of this crew, just like every one else that came on. I was no different, and as a matter of fact she treated me like shit. But you were the only one to openly approach her without caring about the risk of getting your face smashed in."

I chuckled at his straight forward description.

"But after we pulled you both out of Africa, she started acting in a way that I thought I'd never see. Her being happy and especially having fun being around you. Like R said, you're very special if she acts like that around you." His sentimental words then turned serious. "But you're gonna have to fix this yourself. So if you care about her in a way in which I hope I think you do, you WILL correct your mistake. Not try, will."

This was a rare sight for seeing Lutz being so mature despite his constant bitching and wise-assness. Then again, sniper's have a very different outlook on life than your average soldier. They take it very seriously because the one at the receiving end of their rifle doesn't know that they're already dead. That means that they would still have regrets and will never be able to rectify them. This was him letting me know that while he wants Sophia and me to go back to what we were, but it was up to me to figure it out.

As I then looked to the front, Sophia was still facing forward and undeterred as Koko's cell phone rang.

"Hello? Ah Zhao xiansheng. Women kuai daole. Women zou jingu de shihou ni hui kan dao women de."

(Mr. Zhao. We're almost there. You'll see us when we walk in.)

After a quick thought passed through my head on wondering how many languages did she really know, that had to be the tech expert we were about to meet. It was a decent mom and pop restaurant around the next corner. Apparently nerds were kinda the same no matter what spot on the planet you were on. He apparently lived in the apartment that was just above his parents restaurant. Not quite really a basement in their house but the concept was the same.

"He said this place makes very good dumplings so I'd figure we'd knock out lunch with this meeting too." Koko said addressing all of us.

"Fried or steamed?" I asked.

"Pick one Damien."

 **1155 Hours**

Two blocks away and fifteen stories up in one of Shanghai's office buildings, Kang was overlooking Koko Hekmatyar's crew through high powered binoculars as they entered a restaurant. He had been following and eavesdropping on them from a safe distance for the last few days. Just enough to get a read on their routine. He didn't care why they were here. He was after only one woman and the rest were expendable. One of his agents was radioing in to one of the undercover's on the street.

"Women kan dao mubiao yidong dao jianzhu wu zhong. Xue, ni hai you shijue ma?"

(We see the target moving into a building. Xue, do you still have visual?)

A female agent that had been following them from the opposite side of the street had taken refuge inside of a bookstore so as not to be spotted.

" _Kan qilai tamen zhishi zai chi dongxi, dan xi ke ma di ya er zhengzai he mou ren jianmian. Wo rengran you mubiao shijue. Ta duzi mian dui jiedao zuo wei liao wang."_

(Looks like they're just eating but Hekmatyar is meeting with someone. I still have visual on the target. She's by herself facing the street acting as a lookout.)

"Xiansheng?" He asked if this was the time to strike.

(Sir?)

Kang stopped looking through the binoculars and turned his head to his subordinate.

"Xianzai baochi shijue. Kan qilai tamen zhenzheng guli de weiyi yici jiushi tamen zai jiudian de shihou. Women xianzai rang tamen fangsong yixia, dang tamen jin wan gaibian tamen de huan gang shi, da duoshu tamen jiang zai yige weizhi. Women jiang quchu da zu bing tiaoxuan qiyu bufen. Women shao hou hui xiangxi jieshao gai jihua."

(Maintain visual for now. It looks like the only time they're truly isolated is when they're at their hotel. We'll let them relax for now and when they change their guard shifts tonight, that's when the majority of them will be in one spot. We'll take out the large group and pick off the rest. We'll go over the full details of the plan later.)

"Liaojie. Xue, Ping, Long, zhanshi liuyi tamen. Women jin wan jiang jinxing tuxi."

(Understood. Xue, Ping, Long, just keep an eye on them for now. We'll be conducting the raid tonight.)

" _Shou dao."_ Each one said on the radio.

(Copy.)

 **1210 Hours**

 **Foo Chow Restaurant**

When you've had a healthy enough appetite your whole life you can definitely tell when something was made from scratch. First off was the huge variety of smells that filled the restaurant of different herbs, spices, sauces, oils, and meats being cooked. Then the proper fried breading and dough along with the thick juicy shrimp of the dumplings I was scarfing down tasted like they were freshly made as well as the steamed rice on the side. It was a good distraction from the techno babble that Koko and Zhao were discussing from a table in the background.

"Can I have seconds Mrs. Zhao!?" I shouted to the old Chinese lady working the stove behind the counter.

"Big man have big stomach. Coming up!" She said in basic English that was no where near as good as her son.

After formal introductions he switched languages over to English when he began to talk to Koko. As he probably didn't want his parents to hear or understand about what he was about to do. He didn't want to take over his family business and be stuck in one spot for the rest of his life. He was one that took a more logical approach on life by getting out there and seeing the world. But reality can be a real pain in the ass as you can't just do that with intentions alone. Apparently since he came home from studying at UCLA he hit a bit of a rut in finding a job at any type of technical firm. No surprise since his algorithm's formula and capabilities had surpassed anything that current computers could handle. He had something so valuable that no one could afford to buy it. That's where Koko came in as they were discussing the capabilities on his own custom laptop. Or I should say the REALLY boring technical aspects of how a program works.

"This way you can formulate a solution to pass through any type of code and the opposing system will think it's part of it."

Zhao was in his late twenties but he looked like he properly prepared himself for the day with a collared polo. Unlike the stereotype of most computer geeks that do their work in their pajamas or sweats he looked like he prepared himself properly for each day. His black hair had appropriately groomed spikes and it appeared that he wore reading glasses instead of regular ones. Most likely due to the fact that he was in front of a computer all day, it would be less stressful on his eyes.

"And your sure it happens instantly and it can't be traced?"

"The algorithm changes so fast that it's impossible for it to do that. The principle is there but the only way I can show you is if I only have the physical parts of the computer to do this with and unfortunately I have to wait until the rest of the world can catch up to me. That's most likely going to be years maybe decades."

"How does a few weeks sound?"

Zhao was leaning back in his chair when she said that and he almost fell backwards. As he regained his composure, Koko was just looking at him with her usual smile of confidence. Zhao was baffled at the fact that Koko was being serious. And the look on peoples faces when she does that never gets old. As I tried not to laugh or I'd choke on my rice. I gave up on the chopsticks and just went right to a spoon after the first several attempts. Despite my gifts in culinary arts, some things I just ignored. I just ate the food, didn't matter what the fuck kind of fork you used cause it was still a fork.

"I can't tell you everything but I will let you know that my project is advancing faster than I anticipated. There are still materials and personnel I need to acquire in order to begin construction but if you cooperate with my staff we should make significant progress. Not to mention what I'm offering you will allow you to not only wipe out your school loans in one strike but maybe even start your own tech firm. I think that you know which decision would be best for you."

He was gonna agree, the look on his face was if he won the goddamn lottery.

"Where do I sign Miss Hekmatyar?"

"I'll email you the official contract later. I was going to also warn you that you will need to move but I don't think you care about that." She then pulled out a business card. "But as soon as you can, contact this woman during the hours of nine or ten o'clock in the morning, Port Elizabeth, South Africa time. She's my best friend, her name is Dr. Miami. Be sure to ask her about Jormungand."

"Your-what now?" He asked confused and straining on the name.

"Jor-mun-gand. She'll explain. But just bear with her, she can be awfully chatty."

He leaned forward and extended his hand for a shake. "I've listened to "teachers" that did nothing but talk and provided no education for five years. I think I can handle your friend."

She took his and shook it firmly, another success for Koko. "Say that again when you meet her face to face."

 **2145 Hours**

 **The St. Regis Shanghai, Koko's Suite**

Another successful day had passed but I couldn't call it just yet. I still had to do my night patrol with old man Lehm. I wasn't able to get a whole lot of shots on my camera, winter's in cities tend to not be very picturesque unless you're in old towns like Switzerland was. It was almost time to go on patrol so I checked the news on what was happening in the states one last time. In a few days the NFC and AFC championships were gonna happen. The Packers, The Bears, The Jets, and the Steelers were the four remaining teams that were gunning for Super Bowl XLV. It might be an interesting match, just had to worry though about what time zone I was going to be at next depending on where we went next. But for now I had to do one last task before I could call it a night. I shut down my laptop and loaded up my MP7. It was good that Koko had given the same type of personal defense weapon to the other guys, kinda lucky in a way. As I exited the suite, I saw Lehm talking to Sophia and Wiley standing outside. I didn't care who was watching, I had to do something to at least get her to talk to me. But as we both made eye contact she just scowled and left for her and Koko's room. I then stepped in front of her, I'd have to do this the hard way.

"Wait. Will you please just listen to me for just one second? I can't say it any clearer, nothing happened. She was just upset and…"

She then looked away with her eye closed and teeth gritted. I didn't even get a chance to start.

"I don't care Damien! Did you truly think that just because it's Koko that I wouldn't mind? You lied to me, this isn't some damn gray area topic!" She then started to close the distance. I was lying if I wasn't scared. "You think that if you beg hard enough that I'll throw myself at you!? That I'm that simple minded!? That somewhere deep down I'm an innocent girl that will understand a misunderstood situation!? Then you're a fucking idiot!"

This is what normally happened every time I wanted to talk to her or ask how can I be better. One of my biggest fears was coming true. I did fuck up something great I had going. It seems like it was just a matter of time before it happened. I'm just one big fucking walking curse.

 _God. Why me?_

"Valmet that is enough." I was so drawn in by Sophia that I didn't even notice Lehm standing behind her. Wiley quite a distance away with both their weapons in his hands.

"Shut up Lehm and stay out of this!" She said turning her head towards him.

"Solve your little lovers quarrel on your own time. Calm down and go to sleep."

I saw the glare in Lehm's eyes, he was serious. His tone though wasn't angry, he was only turning up the volume on his voice. His posture though was as if he was preparing for what he knew would come next.

"I said shut the fuck-AHH!"

Sophia took a swing at him but Lehm had expected it. With a completely fluid motion he used the momentum of her swing to put her in an arm lock and forced her against a wall. He used his other arm to keep pressure on her head and was leaning in on her to keep her in place. The expression on Sophia's face meant that he was hitting the nerve points and making sure she wasn't going anywhere.

"This is not how we operate Valmet. Enough with this shit. You're gonna wake up everyone in the damn hotel."

After a few seconds she relaxed her form. "Alright…fine…I get it."

He let her go and she then looked to me with a scowl and walked off mad as hell. I was continuing to fail miserably at trying to fix what I broke and I had no knowledge on how the fuck I was able to do it. As I stood there defeated, Wiley passed me and handed Lehm his MP5. They both exchanged looks that they both agreed that what had just happened shouldn't have. Wiley then left towards the suite.

"Come on kid. We got a patrol to do."

"Fuck." I said under my breath as I twitched violently.

After a few seconds I then caught up with Lehm at his three. I saw out of the corner of my eye, he was looking at me. Probably thinking of how to offer up some words of wisdom and experience but he knew he had none to give. He knew I had already known about his constant hook ups and break ups with Chiquita so any type of relationship advice he had would have been more hurtful than helpful. But he seemed like he wanted to try.

"You screwed up Damien. There's no sugar coating it. But I don't recommend the direct approach anymore cause I won't be around to help you again."

I scoffed. "I didn't ask for your help."

"I wasn't planning on giving it anyway. All I did was let her know to stay in line."

"Thanks for asserting your authority." I said sarcastically.

"You're welcome."

 **2200 Hours**

 **The Sky's over Shanghai**

Overseeing the plan being executed from the extraction chopper, Kang's team of fifteen agents had taken a bit more time than was necessary in order to get into position. But the target was still where she needed to be. Three teams were in place, two to suppress and contain, or if necessary, kill the roving patrol. The last team would breach the suite by rappelling off of the rooftop and assaulting through the windows. Dressed in full body armor and equipped with breaching charges and assault rifles, the five star hotel they were in was about to become a full fledged battle ground. As Kang checked his watch he got on his radio to see if his teams were ready. At the same time motioned to the gunner on the chopper to prepare the machine gun for support.

"Suoyou tuandui dou shi Cong yi kaishi, banli deng ji shouxu."

(All teams this is Alpha One, check in.)

" _Cong er kaishi. Zhunbei."_ Xue with the first containment team.

(Alpha Two. Ready)

" _Cong san kaishi. Zhunbei."_ Ping with the second containment team

(Alpha Three. Ready.)

" _Cong si kaishi. Zhunbei."_ Wu with the breaching team.

(Alpha Four. Ready.)

It was now or never as he looked up through the cockpit and saw that they were approaching the hotel. A shining jewel of luxury and comfort for those that wanted to visit Shanghai. It would be a shame to spill blood there. But it was a necessary sacrifice for the MSS.

"Fuzhi. Ji zhu, mubiao zui hao shi huozhe de. Dan qing ji zhu ta hui fankang. Suoyi buyao youyu." He then looked to his watch for a countdown since they were all in sync. "Weibei wo de biaoji."

(Copy. Remember the target is preferably taken alive. But remember that she will resist. So do not hesitate. Breach on my mark.)

Weapons were then loaded and safeties clicked off. Flashbang grenades were prepped and breaching charges primed. Eyes kept watch from the darkened windows that were on the doors leading to the stairs dividing the floors. Specialized retracting harnesses were tightened as the rappelers leaned back ready to descend to the floor of the suite that was several hundred feet above the streets below. The MSS's target, Sophia Velmer, had no idea of the events that were about to transpire. Anyone that would try to defend themselves would be exterminated.

"Zuo ba."

(Do it.)

The containment team went first after they saw two tall and very well built men pass by them twenty seconds before Kang gave the order to breach. They would be the ones to strike first. One was older with grey hair and sporting a black turtle neck and grey cargo pants who was two inches shorter than the much younger one. He sported a worn black leather jacket, baggy jeans, and long deep brown hair. Both however were openly carrying sub machine guns making them an immediate hostile threat. The first man that was about to go through the door to the hotel hallway saw that they were too close and they would have heard the door open. His tactical observation led him to conclude that the abduction would start loud. But not with a gunshot.

The creak of the door let the younger one of the two know that someone was behind them but he paid no mind until he heard the distinctive sound of whenever the spoon of a grenade fly's off after it's been thrown. He quickly turned his head around and realized what was coming their way. He shoved the older man into one of the alcoves of the doors to the hotels rooms while squinting his eye's hard and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"FLASHBANG!"

The grenade bursted with 130 decibles of sound and blast of light that was perfect for incapacitating an opponent. The old man shut his eyes and held his hands to his ears in pain as he slumped over on the ground while the younger one concentrated his fire from his MP7 in the direction the grenade came from. The old man then regained his sense of sight but still had difficulty hearing. The young one then noticed he was getting back on his feet and then made an unusual gesture with one hand. The first man had taken cover away from the gunfire but had determined from the gesture that they were falling back. They had to keep the pressure on them so they went on the offensive.

Back inside the suite the rest of Koko's crew had heard the racket outside and were scrambling for their weapons to go and back up Lehm and Damien from the surprise assault. They had dealt with these types of situations before, all they had to do was provide a clear path for Koko to escape. Since Lehm was already out there taking contact, Wiley designated who to go where.

"Mao! Lutz! You two are with me! Ugo! Tojo! Guard the entrance to the suite! Valmet! Don't leave Koko's side!"

"What the fuck is going on!?" Lutz shouted.

"Save the stupid questions for later! Go help them!" Valmet snapped back at him as she took Koko behind some makeshift cover of tables and a couch.

Wiley, Mao and Lutz then advanced to where Damien and Lehm were under fire. Their attackers were taking cover from down the hallway but they weren't advancing. If it wasn't for the constant amount of noise from the guns, shouts, and impacts of bullets hitting everything they would have also heard the screams from the guests in the hotel wondering what in the world was happening. Damien shared that same concern as he reloaded his SMG, the last thing he wanted was a panicking civilian getting caught in the crossfire of both his crew and whoever he thought his attackers were. They were taking there time though, they wanted to survive their assault as they then implement the secondary part of their ambush.

"Cong san kaishi! Jianqing women de yali!" Xue said through her earpiece as her team was hunkering down.

(Alpha Three! Take the pressure off us!)

In the opposite stairwell Ping tapped the shoulder of the point man so that their enemy would be contained. The covered each other from opposite sides of the hallways and prepared for imminent contact.

The time that had truly passed was only minutes but they felt like an eternity, the bodyguards of Koko Hekmatyar knew that they had to get her as far away from here as possible.

"Ugo! We got this! Take the little lady and get to your car!" Lutz shouted from down the hall.

"Got it! Déjà vu huh boss?" He said motioning to Valmet and Koko to follow him.

"Just don't pull another Torreto cause I got whiplash last time!" She said with Valmet leading her out by her hand.

But just as they were about to go the secondary team appeared from both sides of the opposite end of the hallway and took aim. Koko Hekmatyar and her crew were caught in the middle.

"Shit! Shit! Back up! Back up! Fall back!" Tojo shouted as both sides exchanged fire at the same time.

Knowing what was more important, Valmet grabbed Koko and carried her sprinting back to the suite acting as a shield. This was unexpected but nothing that the crew hadn't experienced before. In the lack of any other direction, you run towards the gunfire. If their enemies wouldn't want to let them get to an exit then they would have to make one. Damien would channel his frustration of trying to reconcile with Valmet on whoever these possible Special Forces types were.

"Mao! Help them out! And get me my bag!" He shouted to the rear as the rounds from the assault rifles blasted away a portion of the wall his head was next to.

"On it!" Mao said as he bounded back to the other half of the crew.

Outside on the roof of the hotel in the cold night Wu's team heard the suppressed shots from inside the building. No doubt that some of the hotel's patrons would have already called the police. But after Kang pulled a couple of strings he would ensure that they would be significantly delayed. And if they did get there in time then all the blame would be placed on Velmer's associates. While two were keeping guard on the rooftop entrance, he and two other agents were about to breach through the windows of the suite. That was until he heard an incoming communique from one of the teams.

" _Wu, tamen feichang nuli de wajue ziji. Women meiyou shangwang, dan women buneng zheng ye sheji."_

(Wu, they've dug themselves in pretty hard. We've maintained no casualties, but we can't shoot at them all night.)

He let his weapon dangle off of him to respond, keeping his break hand in place.

"Shou dao. Women jijiang weirao tamen. Cong yi kaishi. Ni du?" He said looking to the incoming chopper.

(Copy that. We're about to surround them. Alpha One. You read?)

" _Wi ting dao ni de liuliang. Women jiang tigong fengmian ranhou zai nin you mubiao hou tiqu nin."_ Kang said.

(I hear your traffic. We'll provide cover and then extract you once you have the target.)

With that, Wu signaled to his fellow agents to breach. They then dropped their ropes and descended down the side of the building, undeterred from being so high up. With their weapons dangling off their chests they had remote charges in their free hands. They stopped just above their assigned floor, Wu then tilted himself to see inside, they were still focused on the other two teams. Taking advantage of the confusion they placed the charges on the windows, then using their specialized retracting harnesses hauled themselves up. Even though the square and flat charges imploded the blast that didn't mean it wouldn't send glass flying in all directions. While timing the bounce away from the building Wu hit the detonator.

Glass and debris flew everywhere as well as knocking out some of the lights, darkening the room, and rendering its occupants incoherent. Mao was the one closest to the blast and the force sent him flying and landing through a table with his clothes shredded and bleeding from shrapnel. Koko and Valmet were further away but not by much as the explosion threw them forward landing face first on the floor. With her ears ringing Valmet opened her eye to see Koko lying unconscious several feet from her. Digging deep for intestinal fortitude, as well as knowing that she had to protect her sister, she powered through the pain to try and stand up. But a boot to her back forcing her back onto the floor prevented that. It followed up by kicking her in the side and then rolling her over on her back. She then looked up to a Chinese man, appropriately decked out for urban warfare.

"Women zhaodaole ta."

(We've found her.)

That was the last thing she heard before the butt of his assault rifle came down on her face.

Ugo and Tojo undoubtably heard the blast from inside the suite but there was only one way into the room from where they were at. The fatal funnel had them at an extreme disadvantage as whoever was in the room was holding them off. Tojo couldn't return fire and Ugo was just managing to hold off the other attackers with his Mk46.

"Tojo! Running out of ammo here!"

"Wiley! We need help! They're in the suite!" Tojo shouted to the other half of the crew down the hall.

The entire crew then shared the same thought, that Koko was in danger. What was worse was that they were about to be over run. But at that moment, only one placed the value of his own life at nothing. Without thinking Damien broke cover and bolted back to the suite, not caring that he was being shot at or yelled at by other members of the crew about what in the hell he was about to do. His ice blue eyes with his distinct cold scowl had been replaced with shock and fear. If he didn't act fast he would lose another member of his family. Disregarding his own personal safety he combat rolled into the suite while being met with fire from two assault rifles as he scrambled to find the nearest cover, the counter top in the small kitchen that was connected to the common area. He then tried to return fire but his MP7 had run dry and was hit with more incoming fire. He dropped it and then pulled out one of his .45's but he also heard the sound of what appeared to be an object sliding against a surface but it was something he had heard many times before in his training, rope. He poked his head out from cover to see two pairs of legs disappear out of sight. He then heard a moan and saw Koko lying on the floor, he rushed to her side, her head was bleeding.

"Guys! Get in here! They've gone! Koko's hurt!" He shouted.

At the door appeared Lutz, slightly wincing from the dramatic drop in temperature of the room from the lack of windows and most of the wall leading to outside. But what was also weird was that the gunfire had ceased as well.

"You guys get the rest of them?" Damien asked.

"No they just fell back-OH SHIT!" He then noticed and ran to Mao, battered and not moving. "He's busted up pretty bad. LEHM! We gotta go!"

As both of them went to pick up their casualties they both noticed that there was one short.

"Wait a second, where the hell's Sophia!?" Damien said darting his head around the room in a panic.

"Damien…" Koko said weakly. "…they have her."

Damien immediately realized who was the extra set of legs and started to panic internally. As Lehm and Wiley entered the room he picked Koko up and handed her to Lehm, then he took Wiley's ACR.

"Where the hell are you going!?" Lehm shouted but Damien was not paying attention to him as he headed for the stairs to the roof.

 _Christ! Please! No! Not like this!_

He wasn't even acting tactful at this point. He was instead behaving as if his worst nightmare had come true. As he got closer to the top of the stairs to the roof he then heard the distinct sound of rotor blades. He kicked open the door and was immediately hit with the cold night air as well as machine gun fire. His attackers were disembarking with the woman whom he had grown to cherish and care about in the last six months. Once again, disregarding his own personal safety he ran towards the sound of the gunfire. At that same time he felt a jolt from his hip but it did not hurt or hinder his movement. After taking cover behind a vent shaft he heard the engine throttle up, signaling it was about to take off. But the machine gun fire from the chopper was too great, he couldn't advance without getting killed and he couldn't shoot at it without accidentally hitting Valmet.

The helicopter had ascended and took off into the night sky, taking Valmet with it and leaving Damien behind.

The Ministry of State Security had succeeded in their raid of capturing an enemy of the People's Republic of China.

"Damien!"

One man tasted victory, the other had added another stunning failure to his life.

"Damien!"

Damien stood there on the roof of the hotel utterly devastated, he didn't even notice the hole in his hip from a bullet. Or Lehm's shouts until he took a hold of his shoulder.

"Damien! We have to get out of here! You ok?!"

He wasn't responding so Lehm did a quick look over him. He then saw blood coming from the left side of his jeans. He then hit Damien across the face to get him back to reality.

"Listen to me! We'll find her. But you're bleeding! We gotta go! Now!"

Broken but not beaten, Damien nodded in confirmation but the pain was finally starting to take its effects as per his limp when went to follow Lehm and get Koko somewhere safe.

"Sophia…please be safe." He said with his first tear in a while.


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42: The Test**

 **January 20** **th** **2011 0021 Hours**

 **Shanghai, China, Chaohua Hospital**

"GAH! God fucking damnit! Can you please be more careful!?"

Despite the amount of painkillers I took I had to power through the rest of the pain while the terrified nurse removed the bullet from my hip. I wanted to get this wound patched up as fast and as best as I could so I can get right into finding out who the fuck decided to start shooting at us.

And who was suicidal enough to take Sophia from me.

After we had escaped from the hotel we had to get Mao to a doctor. Of course we couldn't just say we came from a massive gun fight and we needed help. So after we got to a hospital, Koko graciously requested that one or two of their surgeons stitch up her head, remove the shrapnel from Mao, get a bullet out of me, and not ask questions if they wanted to live. I was second to last of being done but due to the nature of Mao's injuries he would take a while. The good thing though was that a majority of his injuries were not life threatening. It would go without saying but when he woke up from his surgery I would let him know to call home and let his missus and kids know he got hurt but he's ok. I did wonder how he managed to keep a secret from his family about what he really did after all this time working for Koko.

As I sat there sulking and doing my best to ignore the pain, the nurse had already finished stitching the hole in me and began wrapping a gauze and bandage around my waist. She let me know I was done and I immediately stood up from the patient's chair and put on a spare set of jeans. My bloody ones in a plastic bag which I would dispose of properly later. As I finished getting dressed the nurse continued to stand frozen in place wanting whatever was happening to be over and avoiding eye contact with me. The pain in my hip was becoming annoying every time I twisted it so I needed something for down the road at least.

"Gimme some more painkillers." I said with my hand out walking toward her. She was sinking back down terrified.

But I could give a fuck.

"I said give me some fucking-!"

"Damien!"

As the nurse shrieked, Koko was standing dominantly there in the doorway to the room with her arms crossed with Ugo in tow. Her head was wrapped in bandages and dried blood still visible in her snow white hair. Her piercing blue eyed stare was the one I recognized when she wanted to make sure that things didn't escalate any further than they needed to be.

"You can't look for her if you're higher than the damn clouds in the sky. Let's go."

As she left I saw Ugo giving me a look of condolences. As well as holding my .45's and holsters normally meant for being carried under a jacket as opposed to my other ones I kept tucked behind my waist. As I checked to make sure that they were both loaded, Mike was looking down both ends of the hallway to make sure no one saw them with a bit of agitation on why I did that so brazenly in the open.

"How's Mao?" I asked him as the three of us walked toward the wing in where he was being operated on.

"He should be done within an hour. Lutz and Tojo left earlier to make sure that the safehouse was secure and clear. We're going there the moment we're done here."

"Mmm." I grunted in acknowledgement.

Eventually we came to the waiting area where Wiley was the only one sitting there reading a book he had brought with him in his backpack. Lehm, as I was told, was in the operating room with the doctors and Mao to make sure they didn't do anything rash. His calm and cool persona was shaking a bit, no doubt he was sharing the same concern I had for what had just transpired in the last few hours. He did know Sophia longer than I had. But I doubt his heart was about to explode out of his chest like I felt like. I had fucked up on a colossal scale and my last vision of Sophia was her scowling at me. Now some son of a bitch had taken her and we had no idea where.

 _Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK!?_

Panicking was not going to solve anything, physically at least as my thoughts were running at a hundred miles an hour. The silence that was surrounding us all was eerily disturbing as well. If Koko's cell phone didn't buzz I would have continued screaming in my head.

"Lehm says Mao's gonna be alright. I'll go make sure that the doctor's mouths stay shut and were leaving." She grumbled as she got out her HCLI check book. "This is gonna be more expensive than usual."

As she went into the operating room I noticed the nervous look in her eyes and that her hands were shaking. She was internally freaking out just as bad as I was.

 **0137 Hours**

 **Xishan District**

After regaining consciousness inside of the MSS's chopper she tried to fight back was immediately held down by several agents and had a sedative injected into her neck. That was the last thing Valmet had remembered when she woke up with a groggy groan and noticed that she had a black bag over her head. Her arms restrained by handcuffs that wrapped around a pipe and her legs chained to the chair she was sitting on. Whoever they were, she thought, they didn't want her getting away.

"Kan qilai ta zhengzai xing lai." Said the Chinese voice she heard to her left.

(Looks like she's waking up.)

"Wo hui dedao Kang." Said the other Chinese voice to her right. Walking away.

(I'll get Kang.)

The sedative was still in her system and limiting her functions but her senses were gradually getting better. Even though her head was covered in a black bag she saw light coming from above her head meaning that they were indoors. While not cold it was slightly drafty and there was a prevalent smell of a combination of oil, metal, dust, and smoke. She was in an industrial section of Shanghai but that could be anywhere and it didn't necessarily mean that she was in the city anymore. She could have been taken to Nanjing or Guangzhou which weren't that far for a helicopter ride. But then she remembered something.

 _Wait a sec. Where the hell's everyone else? Where's Koko!?_

But before she could continue she then heard two sets of footsteps coming her way. There was a metallic sound with each step meaning they were ascending or descending stairs. The footsteps stopped in front of her and the bag was taken off of her head. She looked up at a Chinese man in the later half of his thirties with slightly receding hair, a round face, and a look as if he was studying her. She was far used to the types of looks she received from men at this point in her life. A scowl with a missing gold brown eye with messy pitch black hair covering some of her face. Well developed muscles that did not hinder her womanly curves as well as her well-endowed bust. And a height advantage that could cause any man to sink further into the ground. But this gaze was something that was truly on the analytical perspective. Upon reaching his conclusion he turned to one of his subordinates.

"Zhe shi ta. Hen bang de gongzuo."

(This is her. Excellent job.)

The man he directed his statement to had smirked and then he began to address her.

"Olet kaukana kodista Velmer. Nimeni on Kang Shaowen. Tiedatko miski olet taalla?"

(You're a long way from home Velmer. My name is Kang Shaowen. Do you know why you're here?)

Despite his butchered use of her homelands language she immediately realized that these guys were on the hunt for her ever since that day last summer when she got her revenge against the man who murdered her troops. What she did bordered on an act of terrorism and world powers don't just let that go. She knew that Koko would protect and hide her from the eye's of the Chinese but it appeared that someone was bold enough to take the extra step in fulfilling their own perception of justice. And according to the standards of a nation like China, the Ministry of State Security could do whatever they wanted.

"Ei mitaan sanottavaa?"

(Nothing to say?)

"If it helps I speak English just fine, you piece of shit." Valmet said annoyed of his poor attempts to convince her that he was just a man doing his job.

"If you insist. There's no need for such vulgarities Major. But I think you do know the weight of the consequences that you carry."

"And I care because?"

Her sass was beginning to annoy Kang's subordinates, one of them approached her and rifle butted her in the gut. A sharp yelp was followed by violent coughing and wheezing from the wind being knocked out of her. Kang just stood there indifferently, he was used to such methods and actions when a subject was being uncooperative. But Valmet was no ordinary woman after she gained her breath back she pierced an unkind gold brown hole through the head of the one that hit her.

" _You_ are first."

The MSS agent then snarled and was about to hit her again but Kang raised his hand to hold him off. The proper interrogation would happen back at headquarters in Beijing. He never really cared about playing clean or dirty so he closed the distance between him and her to let her know what awaited her. His subordinate stepping back.

"You'll care once you realize that actions have consequences. Did you really think that my nation would just ignore the fact that some rouge wandering maniac murdered so many members of the People's Liberation Army? That just because you're close to the heir of a business empire means you are beyond the law? There are reasons why no one dares oppose us as compared to the rest of the world. If someone or some group would do active harm to our people we make sure that there will be none of them left to try again."

He then grabbed her hair and got face to face with her.

"Consider yourself lucky we didn't just execute you on the spot."

She then clenched her teeth in a growl. Not caring about Kang's poor attempt at being intimidating but trying to figure out how she would get out of this situation. All she had to do was figure out some way to send a signal to Koko. Her knack for pulling off miracles was something that would make even God blush.

"It's funny you mentioned executions because you assholes really don't know that your signing your own death warrants. She won't let me die like this."

One of Kang's men scoffed. He knew English as well. "Do all terrorists spout the same baseless threats?"

Kang then let go of Valmet's hair while hitting her head on the back of the pipe. Then turned to the one that was unbelieving of who Valmet was talking about.

"Chin, xian paishou biao. Ranhou xiuxi yixia. Wo xuyao da dianhua gei daoyan."

(Chin, take first watch. Then get some rest. I need to make a call to the director.)

Valmet then shook her head from the pain as the leader of the MSS team and his other subordinate left the room. The third man who hit her then stood at the open door way with his T95 assault rifle, with his finger on the trigger and his sight solely focused on her. She had no way out of her current predicament right now and she needed to recover her strength.

 _They want me alive but I don't know how long that will be. My only option is to wait for them to drag me to wherever they're going. Ok Valmet think._

"Tell me. Why did you get new pair of tits that look so fake?"

Her train of thought was then interrupted by the vulgar question of the smiling guard with a heavier Chinese accent. She just rolled her eyes and did her best to ignore at where he was staring. Despite wearing a thick, now shredded from a battle, sweater there were portions of her body that she would never be able to hide. Short of walking around wearing a carboard box around herself.

 _I wish Damien was here so that he could rip his jaw-_

…

 _Oh God._

Her thoughts then immediately drifted back towards her outburst towards him and the arguments that had happened in the last several weeks. His face was the same after the end of every argument, a combination of a frown and hopelessness. He was being honest in telling her that nothing had happened between him and Koko. Despite his size, voice, attitude, and especially what terrible things he's done in his life he's been doing everything in his power to fix what he's done wrong. She saw for herself that he hated himself for everything he'd done, that his soul was broken and he needed all the help he could get to fix it. Even with all of that he promised her that he would support her after she had killed General Chan. But her anger and jealousy let her control what was coming out of her mouth and she unknowingly stagnated the reconstruction. Except for Koko she had never really cared for anyone else on such an intimate level or had the intimacy returned to her. So she reacted in a way that she always did with others, a predatory stare and a vicious bark with the bite to back it up. At first she internally laughed upon remembering that she and Damien were similar to each other both in ways that were good and bad. But now she realized that it was a terrible thing that she did. She told Damien that he _is_ a good man and not the same one that he _was_. Despite him being somewhat unconscious at that particular time when she said that.

 _I'm sorry Damien. I'd never thought I'd be the type to get jealous and it looks like I over did it. The chances of Koko and you finding me are next to none. So I don't think I'm coming back this time. My only regret is that I couldn't tell you how I feel._

 **0515 Hours**

 **Fengxian District, Koko's Safehouse**

I hadn't slept one damn bit the whole night even though the pain in my hip had finally subsided. I had calmed down a bit from earlier but that didn't mean I wasn't stressed as hell, and I wasn't the only one. Koko had been up all night as well talking to HCLI's intelligence group. An operation that was this complex was too much for nobody to just know nothing. Judging from their fighting style they were too passive to be assassins, not to mention expensive. Most importantly, Koko was not their target and that would be their downfall.

"Since they've made no effort to contact us it's only conclusive that these guys work for one of Asia's intelligence branches."

I glanced over to her sitting at her desk, her laptop was off so that meant she was done talking to the home office. There was a horse in her throat from talking that long. I then stared back out the window. This little and very plain apartment complex was a big step down from the ritzy glamor we were staying at. The boxes with all our gear and even our luggage took up a good portion of the living room. It would be dawn in little more than an hour.

"I've managed to narrow down the list of possibilities. But my gut tells me that the ghosts of the trip you two took through Africa have come back for revenge."

I didn't catch it on the nose but I did have a feeling that it had to be Chinese Intelligence. The ever varying types of enemies we came across and fought just came back to another world power. The CIA was bad enough but if we were attacked by who I think we were than we're up against a group that played by even lesser rules and death would be considered a mercy if you were caught by them alive. Unlike agencies known throughout the world such as the CIA, MI6, or even the KGB from the Soviet Union the Ministry of State Security of China was one of the few intelligence agencies that even to this day when it was first formed during the Cold War continued to maintain a level of secrecy of what it really does. I already knew, even before I joined the Army, that spies always play to win and never care about fairness. But after witnessing all the shit that the CIA was pulling first hand it wasn't hard to figure out that on some level or another all spy agencies do that kind of work. I do know that this is hypocritical of me but if we lower ourselves to the level of our enemies then why even bother fighting them. Authoritarian states though are the ones that more often than not turn out utter scum that are more along the lines of killers with free range rather than spies.

"I've called in as many favors as I can but all we really need is a lead as to where they went. Kasper's trade routes aren't connected to China so he won't be much help in terms of finding some contacts. But if they take her to Beijing then it's over."

I was a little surprised that Koko was being so calm about this. But we couldn't afford to panic or jump to conclusions about what could be happening to Sophia right now. But all that I could think of was her yelling at me and at worst case scenario I would never be able to make it up to her. I then shut my eyes and tried to relive my anxiety but it wasn't working.

But it quickly ended when Koko approached me, grabbed my collar to face her, and she slapped me across the face so hard it echoed in the tiny room. Rather familiar feeling but I was curious to know why she did that.

"Don't you fucking dare act weak at a time like this Damien! I want her back just as bad as you do but standing there brooding won't get us anywhere. I need you now more than ever. I need to know that you'll keep your head on straight and not start rampaging. I need you at your best. I need…I need…"

Her voice started to break up and then eventually she then began to sob. At that same moment she lunged into me and I caught her at the same time. Her sobs were muffled as she put her face in my chest and I wrapped my arms around her tight. If anything she needed to get this out of her system and I would let her take as much time as she needed.

But for some odd reason I couldn't shake the feeling that in some way or another this was my fault. My damned curse just didn't want to leave me alone. Anyone I ever get close to just suffers and is thrown into misery.

 _God…can I get just one fucking break!? What more do I need to do!?_

"Koko. I'm angry. I'm angry and I'm scared. What do I do? How do I stop being the source of everyone's pain?" I pleaded.

She then looked up to me catching her breath. My shirt was wet with her tears but then she put on the iron mask of confidence she normally held when situations were dire.

"Don't think for one second that it's your fault that Val-" She stopped to correct herself. "Sophia was taken. It's those assholes fault and they will suffer for it. I will tear apart all of China if I have to. _No one_ takes my sister away from me."

She then let me go, wiped her eyes with her shirt, and then started to unwrap the bandage on her head.

"So use that anger to help me bring her back."

It was time to go to work. Now I had a truly rare opportunity to cut loose and not worry about the consequences.

"What's the plan?"

"All we really need is a lead. Someone who would have inside knowledge of the Chinese military's system and I think I know who we can ask to get us started on a trail."

"Who is it?"

"You know who she is. There won't be any problems with her will there?"

I knew exactly who she was talking about. For a moment I was a little annoyed that it had to be her but I couldn't afford to act stubborn right now.

"No there won't. But the real question is: WILL she help?"

 **January 19** **th** **2011 2338 Hours**

 **Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Karen Low's Apartment**

The end of the year and the beginning for the next had to be the most exhausting course of events she had ever experienced in her life. With Dr. Miami's eccentric behavior and hyper personality she had no control over her boss even with Malin and Mokoena's help. First was the Christmas party at Marchen's new factory, then was integrating Dr. Baburin into her staff, next came the New Years Celebration in town, and now was the construction of the system mainframe of the new Hekmatyar Global Grid.

Needless to say that sleep was an absolute blessing. Even more so now that she had a bed instead of a cot in a place she could call her own home. A spacious apartment that was comfortably outfitted and furnished for a single person and a moderate distance from overlooking the sea. Despite her salary being negotiable, as per what Dr. Miami offered, it was more than enough to sustain herself and more. But everything always comes at a price, she just wished it was anything but her current employer.

Her cell phone on the night stand next to her bed began to ring. As she rolled over from the other side, she wasn't surprised on who was calling.

"What is it Doctor?" She said groggily from a disturbed slumber.

" _Karen? I need you to come to the office in town right now. It's an emergency."_

"Doctor it's almost midnight can't it wait?"

Her assumption was that more often than not these so called "emergencies" were not life threatening.

" _Karen get over here now! Koko just called me from China. She need's your help and you're the only one who can do it."_

The information dump on Karen was difficult for her to comprehend. But the insistence that was heard in the voice of Professor Amada was truthful. It had to be desperate if Koko Hekmatyar needed _her_ help.

" _Karen!"_ She said implying urgency.

"Alright. Let me get dressed and I'll call you back when I'm in my car."

 **January 20** **th** **2011 0013 Hours**

 **Marchen Toy Development, Professor Amada's Office**

On her drive to the office, Professor Amada had only partially explained the full situation of the abduction of one of Koko's bodyguards. She didn't however tell her that the one of them that was taken was that on some level still she hated with a passion. As Koko Hekmatyar explained the full version on a video call half a world away. It didn't help either that the video call that was being made to the other side of the world had a distraught looking man in the background, a man that she wanted to kill when no one was looking.

"Why do you assume that I can point you in the direction you need to go Miss Hekmatyar?"

Koko had expected the dry response but maintained her composure.

" _Being the personal aid of a General gave you access to classified information and movements of specific activities in the PLA. Not to mention that armies across the world have to get their intelligence from somewhere. And the Chinese do like to use a one size fits all system."_

For some reason Dr. Barburin was there as well. She had been dressed in sweatpants and a jacket, probably told by Amada to hurry to the office as well.

Karen was still groggy from being woken up but not incoherent enough to realize that none of this would benefit her. Even though Dr. Miami was a rather hyperactive woman, she notice certain changes in her own behavior in the last several months working for her. She wasn't as withdrawn as she was before. She had moved away from a strict and direct military attitude to open mindedness. But she still maintained her pride as a warrior and she had no obligation in helping Koko Hekmatyar. Much less the woman who murdered her mentor.

"You're not answering my question Miss Hekmatyar. You know what she and _he_ did to me. Regardless of the fact that Professor Amada is your friend that doesn't mean that I _need_ to help you."

"Karen." Professor Amada stopped her. "Didn't I tell you that that world you once knew was going to change for the better? Think of this as a part of it. If you keep holding onto that hatred, you'll be stuck in an endless loop."

Not caring on what she would think Karen then scowled at the Professor.

"Respectfully Doctor, you didn't get shot or have your arm broken!"

She was done with this conversation and began to storm out. But before Dr. Miami or Koko could stop her, one no one expected spoke up revealing a secret he only shared with a select few.

" _On my first tour of duty I went on killing spree. My victims though were other American's."_

Karen recognized the distinct deep yet youthful voice of Damien Andrushko. But instead of tough and guttural it was more, dare she thought, pitiful.

She turned around to figure out what he mean by that. On his face was a look of desperation. On Koko's, she was facing the camera but looking to him wondering if what he said was a good idea. Dr. Baburin raised an eyebrow and stayed silent. She was perplexed to see a man like him who had killed her guards without remorse act with so much emotion.

" _The CIA kept manipulating me and my team into doing their dirty work. Those waterboarding stories you've probably seen in the news? They are shit compared to what I've witnessed. My own superiors wouldn't even help me either, they saw me as only a tool. Eventually, I had enough and took matters into my own hands. But my arrogance became my undoing and my team along with some innocent people paid for that with their lives. That led to the worst moment in my entire life when I let my hatred take me over and I went on a fucking rampage."_

Each word and event Damien had said and described sounded like he was in pain. Karen almost expected him to break down and cry. Once again he had shown to other's that he was totally unpredictable. She saw that this was not the same man she talked to when Professor Amada took them both for a walk. And sure as hell not the same towering maniac that tried to kill her.

"Why are you telling me this? What does this have to do with your teammates kidnapping?"

Damien shut his eyes and took a deep breath. _"Do you know why I'm called Nightmare?"_

Karen blanked for a brief moment but then remembered General Chan going over an intelligence report that he ordered her to destroy. It was not long after her failed mission to intercept Koko Hekmatyar's team in South Africa. She also remembered a smile on his face after he told her not to worry about them anymore. The report was classified as eyes only for him but she saw a quoted word from the form sticking out of the file, _Nightmare_.

" _Sir that sounds a bit ominous. Are we about to go on another mission?"_

" _No Lieutenant it's not another mission, it's a man."_

" _Sir?"_

" _Go ahead and look, you won't get in trouble."_

"…"

" _Hard to believe isn't it? But apparently the American's had one of their best take sides with their enemies. And as you can see he's gotten around a lot. In more places than he should."_

" _Selling classified information, aiding and abetting terrorists, extortion, involvement in drug trafficking, involvement weapons trafficking, kidnapping, bombings, murder. Who is he? There's no photograph."_

" _You already know. Perhaps you saw a young man with them? Blue eyes? Rather tall?"_

"Yes I do." She said remembering what she saw of what he had done.

" _Well then you've probably just seen what I've done but not how I've done it. So I'll leave it at that. There's a difference between what is said and what is."_

Karen was starting to wonder where Damien was leading this to. So far this little spiel of his was not getting her to change her mind.

"What does this have to do with Velmer?"

" _What happened between her and Chan was their own business, it didn't have anything to do with you. While on some level it was personal, they both wanted to finish what they started. It was their issue and theirs alone."_ He then sat down on the chair behind Koko not looking at the camera. _"I however just seemed to get mixed up in almost everything I even get near and I always make others suffer more than they should. Sophia however didn't care about what I had done. She saw me as another member of the team. It was the same with Koko when I first met her. And she's helped me move past the trauma in my life. I can't even begin to pay them both back for what they did for me. Same goes for the rest of the team. There the first true group of friends I've had in so long. You however still maintain your status as a professional doing what you are trained to do. I know reality can be very different but real soldiers are the same no matter where they come from. It's just a matter of which side they are on."_

As Damien said his piece, Koko continued on for him. They had planned this out if Low decided 'no' right off the bat.

" _What we are asking for is out of professional courtesy. I wasn't there for what happened in Ethiopia but when you came across us as a group we spared you twice. And I assure you I was rather stern on Damien after what he did. Those choices of sparing you weren't based on a whim and neither was Minami picking you up when you were at your lowest. The new world that she and I are about create will come true and we want you there for it. Help me and you'll see it with us."_

Karen then took a few moments to process what Koko and Damien had said. It was if they were discussing some sort of combination of a business transaction with life lessons. But their words held truth and not deceit. It was actually more amazing in the fact on how open Damien was telling her that he more or less hated himself and was scared for others around him because he thought he was something toxic. But Hekmatyar just brought him into her fold without hesitation or even care about what he had done. The same was for Professor Amada when she picked her up off the street. They both truly believed that they both could make a brand new world.

If that was the case then she knew that just letting Valmet die would not bring back her mentor or get her back into the PLA. Her own country had abandoned her anyway. And Minami was right in telling her that if she kept holding onto her vengeance she would find herself trapped in an endless loop of violence until she would be killed or worse, end up like Damien. If he wasn't lucky enough to be picked up by Koko.

Still, it didn't make her feel any less annoyed.

"You won't be able just go to the nearest government building and start snooping around. Most of the time agents take all of their orders out of headquarters in Beijing. So they set up their own command centers with mobile means. The only issue with that is that they can set up shop anywhere they want. But the department your looking for would be the one that deals with domestic threats. It's similar to the United States' Department of Homeland Security."

Koko formed a slight smirk and Damien then began to relax. They managed to pull off getting Low to help them.

" _From what happened they also had a transport chopper to extract the snatch team. The others were decoys and we didn't have time to figure out where_ they _went so wherever they took her was probably out of the city. But what was strange was on how calm things were when we were moving along our escape route. I gotta hunch that someone tipped off Shanghai police to not get involved."_

"Then that's were you need to start. Someone that would have considerable pull and be trustworthy enough to not report it to their superiors. Plus no matter what kind of clearance they have they can't fly a helicopter over a city without proper clearance or they would get shot down by the Air Force. I don't know how we could get their flight patterns though."

Koko then looked to her friend Minami. They were both sharing the same thought but the Professor was a little hesitant in the idea that Koko had.

" _Damien. Karen. Can you both step out for a few moments please? I need to talk to Minami and Dr. Baburin."_

" _Sure."_

"Doctor?"

"It's ok Karen. It'll be only for a moment."

After they had left, Minami and Elena knew what Koko had in store and it was a huge risk. Elena didn't know Koko as well as Minami did so her skepticism was prevalent.

"Koko I know what your thinking but we've only recently just begun to analyze and figure out the capabilities of Mr. Zhao's algorithm. Even if we tested it out right now on something low key, there's absolutely no guarantee that it'll work on an advanced encrypted system like the heavy duty firewalls most government facilities use."

"I have to agree with her Koko, it's way too soon and there's too many risks. Violating aviation laws is one thing but hacking into Chinese Intelligence? If we fail the US and even this Bookman guy who's been ghosting you will be the least of our concerns."

Koko sat up with her hands on her desk and leaned into the camera. Minami could see the beautiful ice blue eyes that Koko had, were suffering from lack of sleep and stress. With the bags under them as well as being bloodshot it made her look like she was suffering. But behind that mess was the spirit and determination of a woman she knew better than anyone.

" _I told you that you are my best friend in the whole world Minami. Any time you wanted to go catch butterflies I dropped whatever I was doing and went. Not because I wanted to spend time with you but because we both dreamed of making the same thing."_

Minami remembered that day, not too long after her eighteenth birthday. It was during her summer break from the California Institute of Technology taking an internship at the Marchen Company in South Africa at the time. Her genius level intellect and wizardry with robotics and computers let her enter the school when she was only sixteen. And within three years after graduating from Caltech she had furthered her knowledge and was a certified as a Professor from the Imperial College Facility of Engineering in London. She wanted to use her knowledge to achieve the goal she shared with her best friend Koko.

"The New World." She said lighting up her preferred brand with her torch.

" _I've never once failed you Minami. And I'm not going to welcome the new world without Damien or Valmet. They're more precious to me than anything. I won't lose her or let him fall back into his well of despair."_

Dr. Miami then let out a long blow of smoke. Dr. Baburin then understood why people were so loyal to Koko. She treated each of them like family, a feeling she herself did not feel for a very long time.

"So how do we make this work?" She asked.

" _Call Karen back Minami. We need to formulate a plan."_

 **1127 Hours**

 **Changning District, Shanghai, China**

I had managed to at least get some sleep for a few hours and even though I was still walking with a limp I had at least calmed down enough that I was ready to find Sophia as fast as we could. Koko had been running on fumes since last night but she still had enough coherence to explain the plan to us on how to track down Sophia before we made her get a nap in. We would have to take a subtle approach to this and most importantly, pray that we don't get caught.

We split the team into two parts, one would have the easier job of tracking the flight patterns of the chopper and the other would find, in Koko's words, "A way onto the dragons tail and ride with him to his nest." In simpler terms, find out who told Shanghai police to stay out of the MSS's business.

Our target was a police inspector that the intel guys at HCLI was a good start. I asked Koko if we were just going after random people, why not just grab someone and beat it out of them. But as much as I wanted to let whoever took Sophia know I was hunting for them Koko said that it's not a person we were after it was the system to find them. The premise seemed simple, just bug the man's phone, follow him back to his precinct and Koko and Minami would handle the rest. How in practice that they would actually do this though was a little confusing but what was important was that it was to make sure that the connection at the police precinct would stay as strong as possible. The method we were using was a wireless system and we didn't have much of a choice since we didn't have the equipment to make a direct tap into their system. Much less even just sneak in pretending we were there to fix the plumbing or some shit.

The cop we were tracking had just finished his lunch and he was about to head back to work. A few minutes prior though I had followed him into the restaurant he was eating at and picked his phone out of his coat pocket. I then had connected a receiver to it that was getting a data signal from Koko's laptop. She, Tojo and Ugo were parked outside waiting for me and they were still coordinating with Dr. Miami in South Africa via satellite call. Apparently whatever I was putting in the phone was coming from there.

"You almost done planting this digital bug? He's about to leave."

As I was whispering through my concealed earpiece Koko was working her magic from Ugo's car across the street. As I took a sip of tea I ordered while glancing out the window to the car I realized that this was the first legitimate form of what one would might call espionage. Granted that this was a little bit more fancy than field work as Green Beret but the practice was about the same. Only exception here though was that we were taking or doing what we needed. We didn't have the option of negotiation.

" _Few more seconds and…done! Ok get out of there Damien."_

"Got it."

After putting the gizmo in my jacket I put a few bills on the table I made my way over to the cop. I stopped right behind him and kneeled down as if I was tying my boot. It still hurt pretty bad from getting shot again so I had to power through it. But in reality I had put his phone up the sleeve of my jacket and let it slide out into my hand as if I was picking it up off the ground. Despite the events of the last twenty four hours I put on my friendliest face and gentlest voice. Hopefully he would buy the act of me being a good samaritan.

He did. And took his phone back without being too suspicious. Language barrier not included.

Albeit with a limp I made my way back to the car quicker than I should have. Even though I wanted to get out of the cold I still had to look innocent. It was just as cloudy and miserable as yesterday. Another front was scheduled to roll in that night. As I got into the front seat of the car the police officer then exited the tea house we were at and drove off. Koko then silently motioned Ugo for him to follow the cop.

 **1203 Hours**

Traffic was slow and heavy getting to the precinct where this cop was. Not because of accidents or rush hour or anything but because that no one wanted to cause an accident on the slick winter streets. We let the cop enter his building and held off the hack for about thirty seconds, just so that Ugo could park and we didn't look suspicious. Electronic warfare on this level was out of my league and I had absolutely no idea of what Koko and Professor Amada were doing. I'm a combat soldier, not a hacker. She had worked wonders before, I just hope she could pull another one off.

"Ok Minami are you ready?" Koko asked her friend on the other side of the world.

" _Not like I have a choice. Here we go."_

Whatever kind of hacking computer nerd bullshit Dr. Miami was doing started. All we really had to do was wait.

" _Holy crap its doing it. I'm already in their records for arrests being forwarded to magistrates!"_

Which to my surprise wasn't very long.

I know for a fact tracking something simple like a phone call wasn't as time consuming as it was in the movies. It was almost instant. A little thing I learned when I was younger in Middle School. One of the student's parents was a CID agent. But I didn't expect it be that easy.

"Wrong place to look Minami. Look for any incoming communications from state officials within the last three days. If you can see if it came from Bureau Number Two. "

" _Ok gimme a second…"_ The actual time was four seconds. _"I think I found something. Bingo! An encrypted call from Beijing came in two days ago when you guys were getting settled in. And according to the time you told me when they raided the hotel, the same channel had made a call to the chief of police fifteen minutes before that happened. It's gotta be them."_

"Can you trace the signal without being detected?"

" _Yes. Now that I know what uplink line to look for, all I need is access to the internet. Which I have plenty of!"_ The doctor said with her usual chipper self.

"Alright I'll call you back later. Get us out of here Ugo." She said hanging up her phone and shutting down her laptop.

"Roger that."

We now had our lead on finding Sophia. But we were racing against a clock that we didn't know how much time we had left. I would never be able to live with myself if I failed at this. There's a limit to how much emotional pain a man can endure.

I then winced. It was real annoying where I got hit this time, I looked like an old man every time I reacted to it. Since the wound on my hip it didn't help it was being prodded by the seat belt buckle. While I was gritting my teeth to unbuckle the seat belt I sort of threw it off as it retracted back hitting the window with an aggressive smack against the glass, scratching it. I knew everyone was staring at me after that, I still needed to work on getting my anger under control.

But as I put some pressure on where I was hit recently, I saw two arms in a white coat wrap around me from the back seat. Koko poking her head up to me from my left. Just being near her always did calm me.

"When I find them. They're all yours."

While it sounded like she was simply giving me instructions. The subtext was that she was the hound leading me, the hunter, to its quarry.

"They'll have to count the pieces or wipe up the stains when I'm through with them."

 **1420 Hours**

 **Xishan District**

She had now begun to go past thirty six hours with no sleep or rest. Throughout the night and well into the following afternoon she had been made to forcibly stay awake. This was implemented through pain that ranged from beatings from either fists or blunt objects to shocks to her body such as being doused in ice water or prods from the tasers they had. This would only be the beginning of her punishment until they moved her to Beijing where she would face her final judgement.

Covered with cut's and bruises, some visible and others not from under her torn clothes, Kang was actually impressed by after all of that she still held her composure like stone. And with a hawk like stare of what normally a hardened combat soldier would maintain if they were captured by the enemy. Normally such training was taught to special forces types and he knew from her file that Velmer was not one of them. The Mechanized Jager's were capable in their own right but the last time their entire defense force was to show the best of their capabilities was during the Winter War against the Soviets over 70 years ago. It also didn't help that they were a defense force period. By many of the worlds other militaries, world powers especially, who could operate far beyond their own borders they were often seen as inferior in combat until proven otherwise.

"There some reason behind this crap? Because it's starting to become annoying."

The animalistic snarl and piercing stare of a single gold eye did little to intimidate the agent of the MSS. But he decided to humor her, seeing that he would probably never see her again after she would be handed off to his superiors.

"Originally I wanted to ask why you did what you did but on the level of carnage that you wrought, it doesn't matter now. At this point we'll take no chances. Now it was simply a matter of testing your limits because I don't want you causing trouble for us. It seems as though your employer has been through more than her fair share of war zones. And not all of them are in areas of actual conflict."

"Then if you know anything about Koko then you know for a fact she won't take your little stunt lightly."

Kang was not the only one there making sure their new guest behaved herself. The only female agent, Xue, and his gunner from his helicopter, Chin, was with him as well. Kang was proud to earn the position he did by being an effective leader. But for what his subordinates did during missions he could care less as long as whatever objective was given to him was accomplished. His duty and loyalty were to his country. An example was when Chin balled up his fist and backhanded the former Finnish Major with a crack of knuckle to jaw.

Valmet just smirked at him as blood poured from her already split lip.

"Heh. Soft hands. Every one of you."

Kang let out a frustrated sigh. "Chin, that's enough. We're not interrogating the lady so don't bother."

The stocky gunner paused and then immediately stepped behind his superior. Sensing another opening, Valmet decided to take a page out of Damien's book.

"Pretty obedient. Did you teach him not to piss in your shoes too?" She said with a smirk.

A enraged look then came over Chin's face and then aggressively made his way towards Valmet while muttering a few obscenities in Chinese. But he didn't make two steps before Kang turned into his path, put his hand on his face, and swept his legs out from under him while pushing him down to the metal floor in one consecutive move.

"Dang wo shuo goule, wo de yisi jiu zugoule." He said with grit but kept his look neutral.

(When I say enough, I mean enough.)

The man looking up from the floor had gotten the point and didn't argue. His other lieutenant shaking her head in disappointment.

"Shi de xiansheng."

(Yes, sir.)

He then stood up and looked at his number three as Chin dusted himself off.

"Xue, da dianhua gei Nanjing. Women rang tamen fei dao zheli lai jie ta yidan ta zai jidi women jiu hui bat dai hui zongbu."

(Xue, make a call to Nanking. We'll have them fly out here to pick her up and once she's at the base we'll fly her back to headquarters.)

"Shi de xiansheng. Wo hui rang Shen Shangxiao zhidao. Suiran tamen keneng xuyao ji ge xiaoshi."

(Yes sir. I'll let Colonel Shen know. Might take a few hours for them though.)

"Meiguanxi." He then turned to her. "Ta zoulu de shi yige siqu de nuren."

(It doesn't matter. She's a dead woman walking.)

As the three of them left, Valmet knew that from what Xue was talking about on her phone that they were about to move her and more importantly where. There was a Chinese military base near the city of Nanjing. If they took her there, not even Koko would be able to get her back. Seemingly exhausted from the beatings for enjoyment on top of being forced to stay awake, her options of escaping had now dwindled down to just one. It wasn't one she wanted to do but she wouldn't be made a prisoner to the nation of the man who murdered her unit. She unlocked the world with Koko's help and she would stay free no matter what the price.

Knowing that her time was growing short, she calmed herself to try and make peace with the life that she had lived. Up until her unit's massacre in Africa, it was quite happy and fulfilling. The days when she and her brother got into snowball fights in Finland's long winters. Her mother cheering her on when she was on her schools track team. Her father giving her the biggest hug she ever felt when she graduated officers school. But then she realized that that was just bitter sweet memories now. With what she had done in her life, she'd never be able to face her family again without the crushing feeling of guilt of just up and leaving one day without anyone knowing.

 _I know you said it wasn't my fault father. But I still failed on a colossal scale and I blamed the world for it because no one wanted to help me when I was at my lowest._

It was during that time that one woman, or girl at the time, entered her life and it began to turn around. So much so that it turned into an adventure of epic proportions. Traveling around the world with a arms dealer and despite being in constant conflict and danger, it was more than fun. She made a new family, new memories, and walked her own path on her own terms. But she didn't expect that out of the blue one day a man, and from reputation alone, a rather dangerous and merciless one to be someone that would win over her heart. When they first met in Prague, her immediate thought was _"Who the fuck is this pretty boy meathead?"_ But of course her thoughts on him changed when she found out his reputation. He didn't care who he worked for as long as he was properly compensated and nobody knew where he was. Making his own decisions on whether or not he would agree to completely fulfill the terms of a deal or contract. How vicious he was to those that stabbed him in the back, both literally and figuratively. He probably knew but she kept a closer eye on him than the rest of the crew in case if he did any of those things. But then when he followed her to Africa, she found out who he really was. Mentally distraught, hopelessly lost, totally alone, fearful of his own potential, an utterly broken soul. With the weight of all of that he kept moving forward trying to find some way to right all he had done wrong. She found boundless admiration in that and respect for abilities as a soldier. But what she found funny though was that he told her that she was far superior to him even with all his strength and determination. Despite him being so bold that he took the chance to steal a kiss from her.

 _I will miss you Damien. I wish I could apologize for acting like a jealous bitch but you held up your promise to not let me turn into you. But I need to ask one more thing from you. Please take care of Koko. She'll make sure you don't spend the rest of your life doing nothing but fighting and killing. You didn't deserve what fate decided to throw at you. It wasn't fair._

Before she finally passed out from exhaustion, she thought of one of Damien's rare smiles and his impossibly blue eyes that could rival Koko's.


	44. Chapter 43

**Author's Note: I planned on uploading this earlier but priorities come first. Including when you come home from overseas for over a year.** **Anyway I did want to make this a more action oriented chapter but I chose a more straightforward approach. Sort of like a beginning of what Koko is building. Plus I also feel like a bit of a moron for not recognizing the ability to copy and paste translated text instead of typing it out and wasting time.**

 **Chapter 43: The Angered Serpent**

 **January 20** **th** **2011 1500 Hours**

 **Shanghai, China, Fengxian District, Koko's Safehouse**

"Dangnan aemnsing thikoedkhum aetkhony phochai."

(So that's what happened. But I'm ok.)

No surprise on what came after that there was a massive amount of screaming from an angry wife on the other side of Mao's phone. He pulled his head away at the rapid fire accusations of Lao both out of embarrassment but also that his ear drums were partially ruptured from the sound of the explosion he was right next to when they breached the windows of our hotel. His ears were still a little sensitive.

"You could have used a better excuse man." I said with a deadpanned look.

"Hey you're the one that said make sure it's similar to what happened." He said with accusation.

"I didn't say that you needed to act heroic. An accident would have been fine."

He had woken up fully not too long ago. He looked sore as all hell but not so much that he still didn't want to try and help. Naturally though we told him to stay put cause he had three very important people he needed to talk to. And by "talk" I didn't mean boast that he had saved three people from a fire just as a gas line exploded. After a few more shouts and, from what I didn't need to figure out with the subtext, obscenities in Lao he addressed his wife in the same calm tone he had explained on what happened.

"Khony samad vaokab doknony daibo?"

(Can I speak to the kids now?)

…

"Hak chao khu kan."

(Love you too.)

I then left him to his conversation as I turned to Lutz and Wiley. While Lehm stayed behind to look after his friend at the safehouse and we were out planting that tracking signal they were looking up flight patterns of any choppers that were going to be flying over Shanghai. They actually came across something that was a little bit sketchy. Turns out there was a flight path that one was supposed to fly over Lake Tai. But from after some quick browsing from a hacked down looking weather satellite and comparing the time from last night, there wasn't one at all. Only problem though was that there wasn't any images where we could look over our hotel. Technology may be great but it can't do everything. It also didn't help that we didn't have one of HCLI's satellites over our head to help us out this time like our trips in Europe. For now we would have to rely on Minami on the other side of the planet.

The problem though was the waiting.

"A big plus out of this is that there weren't a lot of helicopter flights going around or over the city so the search will be kinda narrow."

As Lutz finished explaining what he and Wiley managed to scrounge up I wasn't really looking at him or paying attention. Instead I was looking out the window, it was beginning to snow again. Looks like the weakest part of that storm was about to hit the city. The real one was further inland.

But what I was really trying to do was to do my best to stop internally worrying about Sophia. I knew I had to stay as focused as possible so that I wouldn't make any terribly rash and stupid decisions or else I would have made the situation worse and I might make another mistake and lose her forever. What was excruciating was that my last image of her, besides being taken into a chopper, was her anger at me. This was a part of my curse of me simply existing. Every time I try to do something good, more often than not it winds up being worse. For both me and everything else around me, completely indiscriminate. This time though I was gonna fight against it, no matter what it decided to throw at me. I had no idea on what caused me to be this way but now I don't care. Whether it was when I started thinking for myself a lot more, my horrible luck, my training, my anger, or hell even my passion for wanting to make an impact on the world, I didn't care. I was going to win against this and continue to strive and be better than I once was.

…

But who the fuck was I kidding? How many times have I told myself that? How many times does it just really end with me killing tons of people? The first genuine loving relationship I've ever had with a woman in years and she gets taken from me. Because I helped her with her revenge. And I shouldn't have been taken in by Koko's charm. I wouldn't blame her but it was my fault Sophia got angry. My overblown selfishness and not thinking about the consequences had cause me more misfortune. Again.

"Hey. You paying attention? I asked you a question." Lutz said smacking me on the arm.

I needed a moment to myself when I was done talking to him.

"Sorry what is it?"

"I was saying that the little lady has been on her computer with Dr. Miami non stop since this started. You think this is part of her 'Theory'?"

I remembered from months prior during one of our card games, and when R was alive, I told them that she and her best friend were working on some sort of theory. Naturally, she never budged on what the hell it was. Even though this place was somewhat small she still found a spot she needed to be by herself. The door was open but she was still in the same spot for the last hour or so. Just typing away and talking to Amada in Africa.

"She won't tell me. That's the one stone I can't move out of the way."

I then grabbed my trench coat and decided to put some cold air in my lungs.

"Where you going?"

"Just outside. I need some fresh air."

I stepped outside a couple of yards from the building, I just wanted to feel the snow fall on me. I didn't really care that the temperature dropped to even lower than what it was yesterday. Classic gray overcast for when a blizzard rolls around. Our room was on the second floor of the four story building. So I had to walk out to where the cars were parked. Despite being in a type of suburban area it was also somewhat isolated. Nice pick for if you wanted to have a safehouse. Being away from everything but also give you extra space for if you wanted to make an escape. Plus it was quiet, no urban noise or even birds, just wind in the distance. It also looked like I was the only person outside, nobody on the streets or driving by. Obviously because no one would wanna be outside at a time like this. You'd have to be crazy, which I pretty much already am.

"Thought you said you hated the cold."

Once again I got lost in my thoughts. Which were still going a million miles an hour cause I didn't even notice Lutz walking up next to me.

"Still do. But this long ass search is driving me up the wall. I wish Koko would just tell me what the hell she's doing." I took a deep breathe but I shuddered when I exhaled. "I want her back."

Lutz knew I wasn't cold. He knew I was stressed and he wanted to help. He also knew that no matter what I would do to him he wasn't gonna leave me alone so I let him do what he needed to do.

"It's why we need you back inside man. You can't isolate yourself on something like this, we're a team remember?"

"Yeah yeah. Don't bother with the cheesy crap."

"We'll actually we need you inside cause you've been out here for awhile now man. Do you not see the amount of snow that's on you?"

There was actually a bit of build up on my shoulders and my head was feeling a little heavy. Upon shaking my head and running my fingers through my long hair I flicked out quite a bit of snow. Then after checking my watch I saw that I'd been out here for over an hour. But even after all of that I still wasn't level headed yet.

"Does it have to be now? Koko's the one really doing all the work."

He then smirked. "Being her personal plush toy will only get you so far."

I don't know why but I found some sort of self-pride in that. I made sure that he saw it in my somewhat overconfident grin looking down at him. While I was kinda forcing myself to stay focused, busting HIS balls out of everyone else's never got old.

"Ugh. Why did I have a feeling you'd take that as a complement?" He said disgusted.

"You know being a sniper means you have to have the best senses out of all of us. Sight especially." I said pointing two fingers to my eyes. "How have you not _seen_ that you have to watch what you say around me yet?"

His frown then turned neutral and he then looked ahead as if he was remembering something nostalgic.

"Did you know I almost lost my sight permanently?"

My proud look then turned to shock. I never really thought much of it when I first noticed it when we first met other than it being a bit deep. Karl and I shared a few funny life stories this past year but nothing as tragic as almost losing the ability to see. It was weird seeing that despite being involved in some of the shady things Koko had done he had lived what one would call the most "normal" life out of all of us.

"How the hell did that happen?"

"See this scratch on my left eye?" He said pointing at it while I nodded. "It's WAY older than it looks."

"Wait if you almost lost your sight, why does your other one look normal?" I said with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm getting to that! Have a little patience!" He then cleared his throat and began. "I was five years old when my Opa started to take me on his hunting trips. Naturally I wanted to do what he did cause it looked like hunting was fun. Of course grown ups always tell children that you have to wait until you're older. And in the process children don't always listen and there's always a consequence. Since we always got up early I figure that was the right time to try and impress him by practicing what he did or I should rather say I tried to imitate what he was doing. I took his hunting rifle and a few bullets out of his closet without waking him up and went outside with a few empty bottles and cans to practice on. Opa was left handed so I thought that's how you used a rifle. Since I was kinda winging it on how to use it I had a problem trying to line up my shot on a bottle through the scope so I put my eye up to it to see better. While also tucking the stock under my arm and not my shoulder because I could barely hold the thing."

This was something that wasn't supposed to be funny but I had a little difficulty controlling my laughter and doing my best not to smile. I knew what was gonna happen next. Sort of like those kinds of "Fail" videos you see on the internet all the time. I held my tongue though on asking him what happened after the gun recoiled back into his face. It wouldn't have been appropriate anyway because he did almost go blind.

"So after the damn thing blasted back into my left eye the recoil knocked me off balance and as I fell to the ground I landed on my face but my right eye landed directly on a rock. I was screaming and crying on the ground for God knows how long until I heard my Opa's voice. After screaming at me on what the hell I was thinking he wrapped his shirt over my eyes, carried me to his truck and sped towards the nearest hospital. I woke up the next day with a massive headache and my eyes felt like were dug out of my skull with rusty plyers. Since I didn't know that they were covered in bandages naturally I started freaking out that I was now blind until I heard my parent's voices. At first they said they were glad I was alright, but when I heard my father's calm tone and my mother's silence that was normally when they were beyond furious. "

"I take it that this was probably gonna be the first stage of your punishment until your sight came back?" I asked not in a condescending way but a way that I felt sorry for him.

He then let out a deep exhale through his nose. The cold air freezing it as it drifted away.

"Well let's just say that in due time my hands were a lot more calloused than other boys my age and my clothes were never dry at the end of a the day."

"Harsh. How long were your eyes wrapped up?"

He then looked up to the sky guessing the number. "Neither one of them were ruptured but the lens's suffered some bad trauma. It was two weeks, give or take a day. The scope did more damage surrounding my left eye because it pulled back a piece of skin. The doctor's said that I was lucky that one didn't get cut open."

A shout then came from a New York Italian accent behind us, cutting off the story.

"Hey! You two gonna be out there all day!? Get the hell up here, Koko's got something!"

We both looked at each other and silently agreed that the rest of the story would have to wait. We then hustled back up to the room. While being careful not to slip on the ice under the snow. No sense in falling down some stairs and breaking our necks just cause we had a beacon of hope.

As we entered the room though everyone was gearing up for a fight. Once again Karl and I looked at each other and let instinct kick in but my first destination was not to my rifle but to Koko. She was packing up all of her things, meaning we weren't coming back here.

"Where is she?" The only question I needed an answer to.

"Minami and I have been monitoring the comm lines we came across and intercepted a communique. Two PLA helicopters took off from the base in Nanjing, so far they haven't changed their route. But they got a little careless in what they were transmitting."

"Keep talking." I said as I went towards my own gear and started loading up.

"They were a little too proud in their success, and also a little rude. They said that a cycloptic, angry, super lesbian is making them very irritated. No exaggeration."

She found her. I had no idea how in the absolute fuck she did it but she found her. Just when I thought Koko couldn't pull off any more miracles she brings out another. As I made sure all of my magazines were fully loaded and my optics had fresh batteries I couldn't help but smile. Cause now the MSS was about to have a very agitated Green Beret tear through them like Sherman through Georgia.

"Well it now appears that their irritation is about to get even worse cause they decided to make a very poor decision to take what was not theirs."

As I was getting ready I was slightly dipping into my well of hate. But I stopped myself before I went any further. I had to keep myself under control because if I made a mistake on this one it would cost Sophia her life. I knew this had to be a test, whether it was divine or not, that was I worthy enough to forgive myself and redeem my sins.

I remember once from when I got my first tattoo on my back. It was a long, painful, and also expensive processes. But I understood why I got it. It was a time when I actually had some kind of faith before my life went to shit.

My grandfather on my mothers side was a Reverend. Robert Laverty was a man that was a bit too conservative in his thinking and didn't like the idea of new things or how an individual would express their opinions. His wife and my grandmother, Tiffany, shared some of the same traits. He was a truly kind soul that almost never swore, drank, or smoked. But he was also a bit of an idiot. Because he thought rock 'n' roll was Satan's music, skirts that went above the knees signified a woman as a whore, and a woman's naked body was evil while in school history textbooks it was ok to see a police chief execute a man in the street during the Vietnam War. So it was kind of self-explanatory why my mom ran away from them when she was sixteen and drifted around parts of Florida and into Georgia doing odd jobs until she met my dad when he came to eat and the restaurant she was waiting tables at. Growing up she avoided talking about her parents altogether, I never thought they were that controlling over their own daughter. I actually didn't even formally meet them until I was nine and needless to say it was a bit awkward for her and dad. But the reason for that though was because that was when my mother first found out that she had cancer and what type it was. Knowing her time was short, and having realized that when you get older you learn a bit, she wanted to make peace with her parents.

It was slow at first but after seeing their own child become more and more frail it dawned on my grandpa Robert that he let himself be taken over by ignorance and prejudice. Something that is greatly frowned upon if you claim to be a servant of God. But what led him and my mother to forgiving each other and him to open his mind to other things was when I glanced at the Bible he always carried with him. I asked him that isn't all paths of wisdom peaceful? He knew what I was quoting and saw what point I was trying to make and he looked right at my mother with a great sense of pride.

" _You're a better parent than I ever was."_

After she passed away my life soon drifted back into being average boy and teenager. With the exception of his father being a Green Beret and his son becoming a man standing above other men. It was just on the cusp of me being ready to head off to West Point and I wanted to get something special from a few inspirations Grandpa Robert told me on strength and courage. So after I scrounged together enough money and found a few times when dad was gonna be home late, I took a trip out to Manassas and found a good tattoo artist. At the time it helped inspire me to become great. But I didn't realize it was leading me in being great in terrible things. And during my travels throughout the world as a mercenary I saw time and time again how fruitless faith can be when compared to man's desire to destroy others and itself in order to gain more. Not to mention that I forgot that some of the most bloodiest wars in history were religious ones.

I'm not faithless but I know that God's not gonna come down at tell me everything's going to be alright and solve my problems. And he's not going to come save Sophia. I'm going to fix myself my own way and I'm getting her back. I will have to live with what I've done. I will live it with my new friends and family. I pray that I'll do good and kick the shit out of the bastards that took the woman I owe my life to.

My combat gear was fully loaded up and the rest of the team had finished packing as we headed out to the cars and then made a hasty dash in where I assumed we were heading north. Further into the blizzard that was coming down. Since it was almost evening it was starting to get dark rather fast because of the overcast. I was in the first car with Tojo, Wiley, and Lutz while the rest followed.

"Ok Koko freeway's coming up. Where we heading?" Tojo asked on his radio.

" _Xishan District. I traced the origin of the message to an old coal delivery yard for a power plant. But those Army helicopters are getting there quicker than I thought. Punch it Tojo!"_

" _Ha! Ha! You heard the little lady! Let's run some red lights!"_ Ugo said rather enthusiastically.

Tojo did exactly what she said and started going faster while weaving around the car's ahead of us. The freeway had already been salted and plowed but he was still taking extra care not to fishtail. While speed was priority it wouldn't mean a damn if we crashed before we could get to our objective. That wasn't the only thing we had to keep an eye out for.

"Koko. Just want to ask, what happens if I see blue lights in the rear view mirror?"

There was a slight pause before she answered.

" _I'll leave it to your discretion Damien."_

"Then we'll have to take them out all at once before they can call for back up." I said looking directly ahead at my objective and nothing else.

No one was gonna get in my way from her and live. It also wasn't the first time I killed police officers.

"Hey Damien, you ok man?"

I looked at Lutz in the rear view mirror is face was that of concern. To be fair he did have the right to be. But I was about to take my anger out on the same assholes who shot me, split Koko's head open, kidnapped Sophia, and damn near took Mao away from his family. So no I was not ok.

"Since we have a bit of time. What happened after your eyes fully healed?"

I addressed the question in a calmer manner and he at least he believed I was focused so that was enough for him.

"I wasn't actually allowed to go back to see him for a couple of years." He then stared out the window as a passing car blared it's horn. "My mother was furious at him that he actually still had a gun of any kind in his house. She even went so far as to call him a hypocrite after telling her no matter what happens that she should lead the most peaceful life she could. And I'm not gonna insult your intelligence as to why he told her that."

As he looked at me, he knew what I was thinking about. Whether it was West or East, everyone in Germany suffered after it's crushing defeat after the Second World War. The exposure of the war crimes committed by the Nazi's was just the first of many tragedies that fell upon the German people. Over seven million people were killed during the war and another two million had died in the years following the expulsion of German citizens from the countries they occupied. Most of its cities were in ruins and millions more were homeless. The brutality that the Nazi's inflicted on their occupied territories were returned with equal measure. The Soviets were exceptional in this with the widespread amount of rapes their troops committed on German women and not to mention that East Germany was just turned into another of their satellite states instead of being rebuilt. The cherry on top, the East and West's systematic intellectual brain drain of the country to advance their Cold War weapons stockpiles. If anything Lutz was lucky in the time he was born. His country had finally begun to unify itself.

"So when'd you go back to see him again?"

"Other than his visits when my parents allowed him, it was about eight years later. When I was at least big enough to properly use a rifle. I asked him straight up if he could teach me how to properly hunt. And when he asked why, my answer changed. So I could perfect my patience and not be afraid of the accident that happened to me. On the first deer hunting trip we took, it was like all the things we used to talk about just felt to me like instinct. Come to think of it, it was snowing pretty bad like it is right now. He didn't even see the deer I was aiming at in the white out." He then looked down to his go-to rifle, a while ago he corrected me that his R93 was made by Blaser and not Sig. "After he cursed me out for shooting it without warning him I ran to it and called him over. Judging from the size of the damn thing it had to be an alpha of a heard. Oh God! If you saw the look on his face it was like someone took a major piss in his coffee!"

The car then let out a combination of bursts and restrained laughs. The Tojo and Wiley did their best to ignore the sentimental conversation between me and him but that last part was kinda funny.

As we got closer to our destination the snow fall had become more moderate but it was also getting darker. It appeared that it was after sundown but it didn't matter with that heavy grey overcast. We were lucky that the police weren't following us after breaking about several dozen traffic laws. But what we were following appeared to be a set of railroad tracks next to the highway. Since Sophia's location was near a power plant, we were coming up on an industrial section of the city. We were getting close, so I took my band out of my jacket pocket and wrapped up my ponytail. The band was wrapped around Sophia's knife, she was gonna wanna use this when we broke her out.

"Guys."

While getting their attention I put my radio on the dashboard. I didn't want Koko to hear.

"I'm not leaving without Sophia. Y'all do know what that means right?"

The silence was expected, if we didn't execute this properly or if we took too long we'd be utterly boned. Going into direct conflict with the Chinese Military would mean they would throw everything they had at trying to find us or kill us. Raids are granted on the level of the element of surprise, the MSS and their PLA counterparts would have no idea that they were tracked down by us in that short amount of time. No one would be bold enough, or even stupid enough, to take on a major world power head on.

But I seriously doubt that who we were about to go up against had come across a man that confronted the Central Intelligence Agency head on, beat them, and lived. Not to mention that they took someone that was precious to me.

I had already realized on how much of a fool I was for thinking with my ego and not my head. In the last thirty six hours I've had more than enough time to determine the fact that I can no longer deny the feelings I truly have for Sophia. But I'm absolutely terrified of telling her what I need to tell her. The violence that has consumed my life is still burning strong and this was part of my unbelievably shitty luck. I get something great and just whenever I develop a bond with it, it gets taken away and that might happen tonight. If I fail at this, this is the end of the road.

It was a good twenty seconds before I felt a firm grip on my shoulder, Karl was squeezing it from the back seat.

"We ain't losing her man. This one's for you and the little lady."

I smirked back at him. He was also right, I had to stay positive and I don't intend on losing.

 _Hang on Sophia._

 **1904 Hours**

 **Xishan District**

Two Mi-17 transport choppers were ten minutes out from Kang's position. The snow storm had only minorly delayed their flight but they managed to make up for their lost time. They were transporting a detainment crew and security detail in both choppers, his own Z-9 was being prepped for take-off. He and half of his team would fly back ahead of the rest since their objective had been accomplished. Their prisoner, still with untreated injuries and exhausted from lack of rest, was awaiting to be carried off to her fate. The MSS team lead was over watching his team prepare for extraction in an old warehouse that was once used for processing coal shipped in from the country side. Regardless of the fact that they were still in their home country, there was a level of secrecy that had to be maintained. Intelligence agencies around the world have done this exact same thing. If you wanted to catch an internationally wanted criminal, terrorist, and the like, you don't advertise the fact that your looking for them or that you were even there.

"Wu, wo yao likai nile. Ni zhidao gai zuo shenme." Kang said checking his watch.

(Wu, I'm leaving you in charge. You know what to do.)

"Shì de xiānshēng. Dāng wǒmen de jiēsòng dàodá shí, wǒmen jiāng chāichú zhège tiězi bìng zhǔnbèi hǎole."

(Yes sir. We'll have the post dismantled and ready to go when our pick up arrives.)

Kang then put on his winter coat and made off to his chopper with the half of his team that was ready. Their rifles, kits, and surveillance gear put away in their carrying cases and tote bags. To them, their mission was accomplished. Even though it was night the amount of snow on the ground had illuminated the world in a sea of faded white. The storm was rather gentle, except for the choppers blades causing massive wind gusts and blowing snow everywhere. While Kang shielded his face from the wind he looked to his pilot and gave the signal to take off.

 **1911 Hours**

Before they had split up Damien had loaned Lutz a hard case with a scope inside of it. A specialized thermal scope, ideal for snipers and perfect for night missions. Even better since the environment would give them away pretty easily. He said he would buy him one if he managed to score a head shot from that far out. But he was a little hesitant on Damien placing a bet that involved a man's life. He brushed it off hoping he'd wasn't being serious.

"Visual on multiple contacts exiting the two story warehouse. Looks like they're about to depart." Lutz said to his earpiece.

Lutz, Mao, and Koko were hunkered down on the roof of a coal breaking building 900 meters away. Mao was acting as Lutz's spotter this time around. Even with his injuries he still wanted to help. Koko was acting as the tactician from under a thermal blanket so that the light from her laptop wouldn't give away their position. One of HCLI's down looking satellites were finally in orbit above them. Giving her a clear view of the battlefield.

"I still got multiple heat sources from inside, along with one signature that hasn't moved in the last few minutes. That has to be her. Lehm, are you tracking?" She said.

" _I hear ya boss. We're already double timing it."_ He said slightly short of breath.

"They still have two sentries posted outside the perimeter. Watch yourselves."

" _Copy that."_

Lutz could hear the chopper's engine from afar but Damien, Ugo, Tojo, Wiley, and Lehm were closer to notice a difference.

" _Lutz I hear that chopper cranking up the horsepower! They ain't leaving are they!?"_ Damien said in a worry.

"It is but they're not taking Valmet with them. Looks like some decided to bug out early. They still have a few car's parked nearby. Maybe by road?"

" _Ugh. Don't really matter I suppose. We just gotta grab her and go."_

" _Damien! Not all of us are Bo Jackson! Slow down!"_ Ugo whisper yelled through the line.

Mao then focused his spotters scope on the team on the ground moving along the railroad tracks bounding along old train cars. But the point man was continuously moving forward, just barely stopping to take cover behind the cars. Honestly, he couldn't really tell him to wait for everyone else. He didn't have the right because if his own family was in that position, he'd be the first one into the fire without hesitation.

 **1915 Hours**

 _Faster! Faster! FASTER! Come on you dumb son of a bitch she's right there!_

I was fully outfitted for this one. Only thing that was different from my original kit and loadout was that I didn't have my 416 with me and I was using my ACR. Each one of us, minus Ugo and his Mk46, had our suppressors screwed on.

The snow had piled up quite a bit on these old train tracks, so sprinting there was getting to be rather difficult. Couple the fact that my thigh was screaming in pain but as long as the wound didn't open back up I could give a fuck. As we approached the outside of the warehouse I saw through the green world of my NVG's the chopper begin its ascent and then it took off into the night. During that instance I took a brief moment to analyze the layout of the warehouse while waiting for the chopper to put a decent distance between it and ourselves. The two spots that were guarded were completely open with no cover and the sliding doors to the train tracks were boarded up tight. But the over hanging roof that led out to the tracks had a set of windows that were on the second floor. We could hit them from two spots and escape quicker. Using our silent hand gestures I motioned that I would take the high ground and I would signal when the rest would hit the sentries outside. But Lehm stopped me before I could go, motioning to not enter the building by myself. I didn't have time for this shit so I broke noise discipline out of spite.

"I got this just make sure I don't get hit in the ass." I whisper yelled.

Lehm tried to get me to stop but I didn't care. I bolted to the train car that was nearest to the building and began my ascent being extra careful not to cause noise on the old metal roof leading to the windows, gun up and at the ready. The old windows were pretty flimsy so I managed to open one without using too much force or noise but due to my large size it was a tight squeeze. It was dim enough that no one would notice me though, since we saw from a distance before we began our approach that only certain parts of the place were lit. The room I entered was totally bare so I didn't know where I was in accordance to the building layout. But I had an eye in the sky that could point me to where I needed to go. I hunkered next to the only door in or out and put my finger to my earpiece.

"Koko, I'm in on the second floor. Where do I need to go?"

" _I count seven heat signatures inside not including you. Most of them seem to be in the northwest corner of the warehouse but there's two on the south east. That's where she's at."_

"Got it. Lehm wait for my signal and then take out the sentries and breach. I'll hold position until you give the all clear."

" _Got it kid."_ He said in his bored annoyed tone.

I saw that there was slight light coming from behind the door so I flipped up my NVG's on my helmet and went through the fatal funnel with less hesitation than I realized. After slowly opening the door I saw that I was back out in a hallway that wrapped around the inside of the building, it also gave me a layout of the bottom floor. It looked like they finished packing up and it was pretty open except for a few old empty crates. They'd have good interlocking fields of fire, plus they still didn't know we were here.

"Guys you got five hostiles on the ground floor level. I can see that three still have their rifles on them but I can tell that rest are armed as well. Make sure-"

It was pretty quiet out tonight, so much so that I could here the traffic of the city miles away. But what did cut through the air was the sound of rotors and I knew which ones they were. I then saw one of them down below get on their radio.

"Oh damnit." I then shuffled forward a bit faster while getting back on my own radio. "Koko, tell me you hear that?"

" _I already got visual Damien."_ It was Mao. _"Two PLA transport choppers are inbound ETA…uhh…sixty seconds at least!"_

"Shit! Am I still heading in the right direction? It's only one way."

" _Keep going Damien. You'll come up right to them."_ Koko said guiding me with her computer.

It was time to make another gamble. We were out of time.

"Lehm! Hit 'em!"

I then sprinted around the corner to the lone door at the other end of the hallway. I don't if he heard me or if the first shots were fired but making sure that she was safe was what mattered. Going full steam I put my boot against the door at the last second flinging it open. It wasn't really the most tactful way or hell even the proper way but as I was doing it there were shouts of Chinese on the floor below me. That didn't concern me now as the moment I bursted through the door I ran into a body, Sophia's lone guard. It didn't look like he was armed but he was so close to me I couldn't raise my weapon and I had no time to go for my knife. So after I shoved him off I got behind him and put him in a choke with my dominant hand on his throat and began to squeeze with all my strength.

This is what they deserved for taking Sophia from me. They made something I was trying to fix worse. They were gonna try and take away one of the few good things that had finally happened to me ever since I started down on this dark path. I will slaughter anyone that tries this to me or my family.

This is what Koko meant by using that anger I have to take it out on those that truly deserved it. Gritting my teeth I was actually lifting the man off the ground in my choke, he was desperately trying to claw at me or find some way to break my grip. At the same time below I then heard gunshots, Lehm and the guys had started their breach. The guard then started to let out some very painful gurgles and for a peculiar reason the tension on where I was grabbing him was loosening. That's when I knew I could finish him off and I ripped the flesh from off of his neck and dropped his body on the floor with a metallic thud. Blood pooled from him as he succumbed to the shock of massive blood loss. As I stood dominantly breathing hard over my defeated foe, I remembered I was still holding a bloody piece of him in my gloved hand and dropped it. I then heard a weak and somewhat incoherent voice.

"Damien?" She said with a rasp.

Snapping me back to reality I saw Sophia in a corner on a chair cuffed up to a pipe. Her face covered in cuts and bruises and her clothes torn. She looked like she was running on fumes as well as she looked like she could barely keep her eye open. I rushed to her and got face to face with my hands on her bloody cheeks.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm right here. This ain't no bad dream. I'm taking you home."

Her gold eye finally realizing it was me instantly changed from exhausted defeat to overjoyed determination.

"Don't start with the sappy reunion shit." She said short of breath. "Get me out of these things."

I then went back to the now pale dead guard and searched his pockets. I found the cuff key and then undid her restraints. We had already run out of time, but now this was the point where we had to wing it. I heard what was fast approaching the old coal processing plant. Even if we ran now, they would find the bodies, they would radio in even more reinforcements, and they'd have control over the air. We'd been lucky so far but if we didn't make a stand now we'd never even make it out of the city, much less the country.

 _And all of this just because of a single fucking computer program._

" _Damien. Were clear down here."_ Wiley said on the radio.

"Yeah I hear ya. Comin out now." I then reached into my cargo pocket. "I believe this belongs to you?"

She then stood up in a bit of a painful way but she took it with a smile and fastened it to her belt. But as she tried to walk, her legs looked like they gave out on her and I caught her. It appeared she felt worse than she looked.

I then let Sophia's weight fall on my shoulder and I helped her out the room and down the metal staircase to where the rest of the team was at. She could walk but she was exhausted and her legs were numb from being in the same spot for God knows how long. As we got to the ground floor Ugo and Wiley were covering the doors while Lehm and Tojo looked like they were waiting for us.

"Glad to see your still in one piece." He then got on his radio. "Koko, she's alright."

I just realized I DID just find her and I didn't call it in. I felt like an idiot.

" _Thank God. But you guys aren't out of the woods yet."_

"We know they're right on top of us but I don't think they know what's happened yet."

The PLA choppers had touched down and there was a Chinese voice on one of the radios. It was coming from one man that apparently was shot in his left eye through his glasses. Probably asking where the hell their delivery boys were. Tojo, being only one at the time that spoke the language, got on a dead MSS agents radio to let them know the prisoner was on her way out and they were going to get her. We needed to act fast.

"So? What now kid?" Lehm asked in a rare frustrated tone telling me that we were trapped.

We had no choice, we had to take them all out at once and catch them off guard as well. Looking around and doing my best to remain calm while figuring out how to do that I saw that one of the dead agents was a woman. She was no where near Sophia's size but I had to take the chance that the prisoner they were going to extract was a woman and that they didn't know what she looked like.

"Ok here's the plan. Sophia, get undressed."

I probably shouldn't have said that part of the plan first as everyone looked at me with a raised eyebrow. No doubt Lutz, Mao, and Koko were wondering what the hell I was leading into.

"Uhh…can you repeat that Damien?" Sophia said baffled on what she thought I had in mind.

I continued explaining despite the wrong way I started off saying what my plan was.

"All we need to do is just hand them a woman so we can catch them off balance. Tojo, Wiley, I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to use you guys as decoys, it WILL be danger close. Take off your kits and put on the gear of one of these guys that's got the least amount of blood on it, take their weapons too. Wiley put on a ski mask to hide your face. I'll fire off the first shot with my grenade launcher and ground one of the birds then the rest of you light up anyone standing. Lutz, I'll reload fast but if the other bird starts to take off, aim for the cock pit."

Out of lack of anyone else having a plan we got to work.

And gave Sophia as much privacy as we could. But I had to help her since it looked she was in a little more pain than she normally took. When she took off her torn sweater the further abuse she suffered gave me even more of an excuse to turn these fuckers into mulch.

"Just one question Damien. Why do I gotta go out with Tojo? I don't speak, much less even look, Chinese!"

"Hey! I'm coming up with this shit on the fly! Plus not to make you look inadequate but you're the smallest out of all of us. Unless you know of any other Asian people that's damn near over six feet and change?"

"You're lucky my height is the only thing that concerns you."

After working as fast as we could the PLA troop commander outside was getting impatient. Tojo got back on the radio and told him they were coming out now. Good thing though was that the MSS agents wore almost the same type of casual garb we did but all we needed them to do was be distracted for a moment. Both choppers were on the ground side by side, so I aimed my grenade launcher at the one on the right since Lutz would have no shot. As much as Sophia wanted to jump right back into the fight, she was in no condition to do such thing as I took away Wiley's rifle as Ugo, Lehm and Me lined up our shots.

"This ones on me." I said wiping her face with the sleeve of my windbreaker jacket. Her gold eye looking at me with sincerity.

"Damien…"

"No." I stopped her. "Not now, tell me when we're far away from here."

As I looked back outside from inside the warehouse, everything looked smooth so far. They didn't notice we were aiming at them through the large open doorway. And Wiley and Tojo had dragged the dead woman's body to the PLA officer there. The noise of the helicopter rotors drowning out all the surrounding noise so we only had visual on what was happening.

 _Come on. Take the bait._

The PLA retrieval team had then taken the "unconscious" woman to their chopper and turned their backs to us. Tojo and Wiley fell to the snow, that was the signal.

 _ **THWUMP! BOOM!**_

"FIRE!"

As the cockpit of the first Mi-17 blew apart and began to burn Tojo and Wiley concentrated their fire on the cockpit of the other chopper with their stolen Chinese assault rifles while the rest of us kept them covered from the warehouse. As I managed to reload my second grenade I took aim to ground the other bird. But I saw one of them toss something in the direction of the Chinese Hip, three seconds later…

 _ **BOOM!**_

The blast was much larger than my grenade, but then I remembered who the hell was out there. Only he would be crazy enough to put himself that close to a demo charge and let heavy and sharp debris rain down around him. I slightly felt bad for Tojo being out there. I hoped there wasn't yellow or brown snow out there. As the engine from the other chopper began to fizzle out since all of its fuel was burning, Tojo and Wiley stood up and made our rallying gesture to make sure we were clear. I motioned to Lehm for us to move up while Ugo stayed with Sophia.

"Mao, Lutz, there anything that survived those blasts?" I asked on my radio while advancing.

" _Hold up one second Damien."_

After a brief pause there were two shots in the distance followed by a single sharp scream.

" _Your clear."_

The four of us made our way to the back of the burning birds. The shrapnel from Wiley's C4 charge mangled the inside of his chopper while there were several body's at the rear ramp of mine. But then we heard a voice coming from one of the dead agents radios, it was coming from a man with half of his skull gone. Looks like I had to buy Lutz that thermal scope I promised.

" _Yǒurén huídá wǒ!"_ It said with urgency as I tore it off of his kit.

(Somebody answer me!)

"You listening you stupid fuck?" I said in an angry growl.

" _Who are you?"_ He said in English and me not caring.

"You will not come for us ever again. You will not come for HER ever again. Death will be merciful if you do."

I threw the radio in the snow as it still wanted to try and figure out what was happening. I then got on my own.

"Koko, were clear. Let's get the fuck out of here. They managed to get one message out."

" _We're on our way Damien. Sit tight and don't worry about it. And give the radio to Valmet please."_

I saw Ugo walking towards us with the extra weapons and Valmet on his side. I met him half way and gave Sophia my earpiece while he gave Wiley and Tojo their weapons back giving us a bit of privacy.

"Hey Koko. I'm sorry they-"

" _Don't you dare apologize."_ She said cutting her off. _"This has been twice now that you've scared the living daylights out of me. Cut it out, you're so mean!"_

Busting her chops seemed to let her know that she was glad she was alright. We both couldn't help but smirk.

"I'm sorry anyway. Are we going home now?"

" _We'll talk later. Our transport is waiting for us. We're leaving China, NOW! And I'll make sure that no one follows us."_

I raised my eyebrow. I knew that was part of the plan but not that soon.

 **1957 Hours**

 **Skies Over Shanghai**

Absolutely flabbergasted on what had just transpired, Kang was in a bit of a panic on trying to reorganize a method to find whoever was responsible for leaving a portion of Shanghai like the aftermath of a warzone. As well as appalled that someone had the audacity to tell him that they could do whatever they wanted and saw him as inferior. Sitting in the co-pilots seat he was in a visual rage as his pilot kept going in the direction of the city after turning around hearing the panicked chatter on the radio earlier.

But what was weird was that except for some short burst on the local channels they couldn't send out any info on their encrypted network. It was like they weren't there. They would at least be able to filter out where the origin of a signal jammer was but it appeared that it was within their own system and the signal wasn't getting any weaker or stronger. It was only maintaining the ability to mute them.

"Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu shèfǎ liánxì rènhé rén!?" He shouted to the back of the cabin to anyone in particular.

(Have you managed to contact anyone!?)

"Chúle jǐ gè dāngdì de jǐngchá píndào, wǒ shènzhì wúfǎ chóují zǒngbù." One of the remaining agents said.

(Other than a few local police channels, I can't even raise headquarters.)

He then turned back to see the city coming up. He went back to his phone to try and radio whatever local assets he could reach.

 _Wǒmen de xìnhào shì rúhé bèi kǎ zhù de?_

 _(How is our signal being jammed?)_

"Zhè shì kāngshǎowén de tègōng. Guójiā ānquán bù jiàndìng èr hào sìbāyī líng jiǔ. Nǐ zhǎodàole fúhé wǒmen mǒu xiē táofàn miáoshù de rén ma?"

(This is Special Agent Kang Shaowen. MSS ID number 248109. Have you located anyone that has matched our description of certain fugitives?)

His mission still relied on secrecy, he couldn't just put out that a group of dangerous terrorists was taking on the MSS and beating them. The same repetitive static began again on the other end but there was another officer on the line. It was a different one almost every time. So it was becoming annoying that he had repeated the same introduction five times already.

" _Zhè shì wǔ gè xúnluó duì. Wǒmen shèfǎ dédàole liǎng liàng chē dí quèrèn, zhè liǎng liàng chē bèi chēng wèi xǐyuè chēshǒu. Tāmen shì xiānshēng ma?"_

(This is patrol unit five five. We managed to get a confirmation on two vehicles that were called in for what appeared to be joy riders. Is that them sir?)

Knowing that they would have had to have made a quick escape, because their blatant assault would not go unnoticed, that had to be them. Who they possible were all together though couldn't have pulled this embarrassment to him off.

"Tāmen zài nǎlǐ?"

(Where are they heading?)

" _Mǎtóu."_

(The docks.)

Kang then cursed under his breath. With so many ships coming in and out of Shanghai, he would have to declare martial law in order to even start looking for them. What appeared to be a simple snatch and grab to add another success to his career turned out to be an utter disaster and it wouldn't go unpunished when this had all ended. At best he would never work again as a defender of the Party and the people. At worst he'd be sent to a work camp for the rest of his life. He couldn't figure out why one bad thing after another had kept happening. He then turned to his pilot.

"Cháo nàlǐ zǒu qù. Rúguǒ wǒmen xìngyùn dehuà, wǒmen huì bǎ tāmen qiè diào." He then turned to his remaining agents. "Zhǔnbèi quánmiàn zhàndòu!"

(Head towards there. If we're lucky we'll cut them off. Prepare for full combat!)

The chopper then made full throttle towards the cold winter night to the shipyards of Shanghai. This was going to end with a bang no matter what happened as rifles were loaded up and edginess was on the faces of Kang's team. Each one wondering what had they gotten into.

After a few minutes they had reached the shipyard and having a clear overview of what was an armada of tug boats, tankers, trawlers, and the like. With the numerous stacks of shipping containers that were sporadically placed around the snow covered docks it looked like that there was some type of shanty town next to the docks. Kang had his binoculars in hand and began searching for the two vehicles that Sophia Velmer's employer, Koko Hekmatyar had used during their trip to his city. But he was so focused on the docks that he wasn't looking out to sea where his pilot had a visual on a rather unique looking ship design that was obviously not a regular shipping tanker. As a matter of fact it looked like a cross between a cargo ship and a military naval destroyer.

What was weirder still was that there was a flash coming from the deck and unless he was seeing things it was a tail fire going through the night sky. He then reached over to his team lead who while cursing him out saw the flare as well. The pilot tried to veer the bird away but it was approaching too fast and they had no countermeasures. It wasn't possible on what had just happened in the last few hours. It looked like a war that had not played by any sort of rules had just overwhelmed him. In his final moments, Kang Shaowen had concluded he had gone mad.

The assumed surface to air missile put an end to his madness, his career, and his life for not heeding the threat from the demonic growl he heard an hour earlier. The threat of a man who he didn't know that he made true horror into reality.

 **2012 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Crimson Sparrow**_ **, Kasper Hekmatyar's personal ship**

Kasper Hekmatyar did not need any excuse to come and help his little sister Koko when she called him in the middle of the night yesterday. This one was all on him and he wouldn't mind doing his best to help make sure that her official stay in Shanghai was on the level. But he was rather frustrated that he was pulled from a nice tropical outing in Borneo all the way the freezing waters of the coast of China. He wasn't really fooling Koko or Chiquita on the deck of his ship trying to act in his normal charismatic self while shivering even in a heavy winter coat and ski cap.

"Excellent shot. It's good to know that when we go to sell these Stingers we can let our buyer know that they've been field tested." He said as the burning chopper splashed into the bay.

Koko just looked at him with deadpanned stare of annoyance. Even with him helping her out he still found a way to act like their father by placing business ahead of personal needs. Chiquita, with an empty FIM 92 Stinger Anti-Air Missile Launcher on her shoulder, just stood there indifferently as usual with her fixated smile. But this one had a hint of satisfaction behind it.

"They hurt my little _mishka._ That's all the excuse I need." She said as she tossed the empty tube on the deck.

"Careful! That thing's rather expensive!"

"Shut up you idiot. Just get us out of China." The younger sibling said to the older one.

It was how the two got along together, even when they were children. He knew she was thanking him for coming when he did as fast as he could. But as much power as the both of them wielded this seemed to work into Koko's favor almost too well. He didn't care if his sister had a secret or two, it just wasn't his business. But coincidences could only go so far. As the three of them began to make their ways below deck where it was warmer he motioned to Chiquita to hang back to give them some privacy.

"Those MSS guys seemed to go exactly where you wanted them to go. Granted whoever their boss was, was an arrogant moron but you could have lost them easily. Is there something I need to know?"

The two of them knew everything about each other. It was easy to do when the only other company they had growing up were their bodyguards. So when Koko gave him her iconic grin he knew she wasn't telling him a damn thing. More often than not, he didn't want to know what she was thinking.

"Well…make yourselves at home for now. I doubt any of you want to have another stressful situation in the near future."

"I'll take you up on your wonderful offer Kasper. But for now just point me in the direction of the sick bay, I could never figure a way around this _Merrimack_ you call a ship."


	45. Chapter 44

**Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long. I had to get back into the normal flow of things and there was a day or two where I kind of put off the writing. But just to lay any worries to rest, this story ain't gonna end anytime soon. The real challenge for me though will be creating entirely new content for the third act.**

 **Chapter 44: Solice**

 **January 21** **st** **2011 0004 Hours**

 **Aboard the** _ **Crimson Sparrow**_ **, The South China Sea**

If she was on deck or the bridge, the lights of the city of Shanghai and China itself was fading away the further and further they sailed. Below she was glad for the warmth as she made her way to the sick bay to finally talk face to face with her other best friend and sister. Kasper's ship was far better suited for quick escapes in the current situation that Koko was in. It was a weird concept of a ship based on Kasper's needs and wants and it was the only one of its kind. Needless to say that he paid for the construction of the ship himself and she scoffed at his tastes on being a mixture of both luxury and blandness. Weighing just little over half of her own cargo ship its main hull was that of a fast combat support ship while the structures above deck looked very similar to that of a modern day destroyer. Complete with a tactical operations room normally befitting of war at sea or the amphibious type if the situation called for it. As well as a hanger for the several UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters he had below deck. Only thing that kept it from being a full fledged warship was that it didn't have any visual armaments, keyword being visual. And they weren't the ones neatly stacked in containers below the decks.

While both their ships were armed enough to discourage any possible raiders or pirates, Kasper took a more serious approach to conflict at sea. The Stinger that Chiquita used was just the basic tool for anti-air defense. Near the bridge, hidden under concealed hatches were two 20mm M61 Vulcan cannons. Perfect for taking down any close range aircraft or incoming missiles. For his own missile batteries, near the bow were two RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and at the stern were two AIM-9 Sidewinder anti-air missiles. If anything Kasper wanted to make sure that no one got near his wares without a fight. Or if he'd even give them a chance.

She had just missed the both of them, as the ships doctor told her that the moment Valmet had her wounds treated she darted off somewhere with Damien. Who, while he was in sick bay, had asked the doctor to fix the stiches that he had opened back up during some strenuous physical activity to rescue her. For a brief moment, Koko had assumed the worst of where they both went and would only imagine Kasper never letting Damien hear the end of it. But she knew Damien practiced common sense, at times, and he wasn't one of the horny morons most young men his age never decided to grow out of.

There wasn't really a whole lot of places for them to go and the crew was asleep and not leaving the ship anytime soon so she took her time and started from top to bottom. But she realized she must have been more tired than she let on, it was an obvious place where he always went after being at work for longer periods. He was always starving at the end of them. As she approached the galley she smelled the aroma of chicken and when she opened the swinging doors there was a mess of used pots and pans along with some used knives left in the sink. Damien always did clean up the messes in her galley but it seems that since this was Kasper's "house" he didn't care. His tolerance of him still didn't thaw well enough, but he did thank him for giving him and her crew a ride out of China. After checking a few more rooms she then smelled the chicken again and followed the scent, which led to the crews lounge. And upon further inspection the door was apparently pried open, it was often locked during the night hours according to Kasper as a bit of a disciplinary measure. Once again, Damien didn't care.

She immediately heard the TV inside the lounge that was the only source of light. From what she could hear was the ever growing unrest that was going on in North Africa that had spread from Egypt, to Tunisia, and about from her logical conclusion would be Libya next. The light diming out what actually resembled a pub rather than a lounge, complete with a full bar, pool table, dart boards, and couches placed at angles around the TV. On the one in the center she saw the familiar black hair of her sister and some deep breathing coming from her but it wasn't her snore.

"Hey."

Valmet then turned to face Koko. Smiling even with her face bandaged up from the cuts.

"Hi Koko."

She then walked over and found the source of the sound of deep breaths. Valmet held her finger to her mouth to let Koko to watch the noise. Damien resting his head on Valmet's blanketed lap. His tall and large form spread out across the rest of the couch. No surprise that he seemed mentally and physically exhausted from the last two days. Judging by the plate of leftovers on the coffee table in front of them, cooking a meal for her after she didn't eat for a whole day was what finally broke him.

"Well this looks awfully familiar don't it?" She said squatting down and resting her arms and head on the end of the couch.

Valmet knew of what she meant but didn't think it was anywhere near as bad as what happened when she left on her rouge mission and Damien following her. The aftermath though was still up in the air.

"I don't think he's gonna wake up anytime soon though." Valmet said looking down at Damien. His head facing away from the light of the television and towards her.

Koko then gently stroked Damien's head. His skin felt cold, his fear of what might happen to Valmet were most likely what caused him to push himself so much. Koko wondered if he would truly feel the same for her if a similar situation happened.

"He was thinking about you the whole time you know?"

 _I'd say I feel a little jealous._

"I know. But…seeing him like this compared to earlier. Well…it kind of frightens me."

Koko looked to her sister confused. "Why would you be afraid of him? You know how nervous he gets around you whenever he's caught with his pants down."

A nervous look then formed on Valmet's face. Koko's attempt at humor did little to dissuade her thoughts on the savage act Damien had perpetrated on another human being. Then falling asleep comfortably in her arms with a clear conscience. Even after all the time they spent together she still couldn't figure him out. She braced herself and told her brief but bloody memory to Koko.

"He tore a man's throat out with his bare hands right in front of me. He didn't notice I was looking right at him while he was doing it. And looking at him right now all content and peaceful…."

Koko paid attention to how Valmet explained the event. Normally such things are said in exaggeration but she said it as matter of fact. She then looked at the innocently sleeping Damien and rubbed her thumb on the silver shield he gave to her. He had all of the physical features that made him appear to be larger than life. A collective opinion would say a handsome youth ready to find their place in the world, sort of stereotypical view. Those that placed reality above all else would say that all of that would disappear after a soldier see's the reality of war, they were the ones that were right. But Damien was more than that, in more ways than anyone in the world would even imagine. He was a Green Beret and had all the knowledge, skills, and strength that make them some of the deadliest men in the world. And no matter what he would always have a violent side. Molded by the bitter selfishness of fools. But to Koko, he was just Damien. And she hoped he'd be more than that in the new world she had now began to create.

"Just because he's killed a lot of people in a lot of ways doesn't mean he doesn't have a heart. So when he wakes up I'll tell him to start using a softer hammer. Granted they deserved it for what they did to you. But don't make one act he did define him as who he is because you know he's more than that." She then stood up and wrapped her arms around her head. "I'm so glad you're ok."

Valmet then held one of her arms. "Let's hope the PLA doesn't try this again."

"They won't ever again. I swear on my life they won't. This is the second time they tried to take you from me. There won't be a third." She said with reassurance.

"By the way Koko. How did you manage to find me so quick?" She asked as they let each other go.

She smiled. "Let's just say my work paid off but it still has a few kinks to work out. But that's for later, right now I need to make a declaration."

Valmet raised her eyebrow as Koko looked down at Damien still unconscious.

"No more underhanded bouts or petty jealousy or arguments or letting anger threaten our little family. Both of us care for him. So may the best woman win." She said with her trademark smile.

Valmet then stared back to Koko unable to formulate a response to what she was entailing. Despite on how they would sometimes bicker over trivial things in all the years they'd known each other, a man would be the last thing on both their minds. Now she knew how awkward Damien felt whenever the topic of him and women came up. She knew when because of the subtle twitch of his mouth baring teeth he did every time it happened. But now she realized that she cared about Damien, just as much as she did Koko. Juggling a intimate relationship between two people was not a good idea so it looked like she had to make a choice just like Damien.

"Koko we had this discussion before. Think about what _he_ wants." She said as if she was warning her.

"I am. Whatever choice he makes, I'll honor it. But I have to hear it from his mouth. Only problem is he's too stubborn to shake off his tough guy persona. It's real annoying isn't it?"

Valmet chuckled. "I wouldn't put it in his top five flaws, but I prefer that over the times when tries to be funny but he ends up looking like an ass."

Koko giggled as well. "Well lets both agree to try and break him out of THAT shell. But starting tomorrow…" She then leaned in closer to Valmet's face. "…it's on."

Valmet always did whatever Koko asked of her without hesitation. But everyone grows and learns, she'd be fool if she didn't and Damien would have called her out on it if she did. It was why he prided himself on knowledge, mostly because he was trying to figure out a way to right all the wrongs he'd ever done. But one thing she picked up from Koko that she shared with her was there was always a gray area in everything. This would be another part of it, but she wondered on how Koko would win a losing battle. She had already went all the way with Damien, she knew Koko couldn't beat that.

"How do you even plan on starting since your so far behind?" Valmet said closing her own distance to her.

"Two things." Koko said holding up two fingers. One on each hand. "One; a woman's appeal does not rely solely on the size of her bust." She said prodding both of Valmet's breasts.

"And the second?" She said unfazed. It wasn't the first time she had grouped her a little more than she should have.

Koko once again looked down to the still sleeping Damien. She knew that he was too exhausted to do anything but it would be interesting to see the look on his face if he was aware of what the two of them were discussing. As often as he likes to project that he doesn't care about things, she knew it was just a cover, and his reactions were nothing shy of glorious.

But she had a promise to fulfill to him. To let him be the first to see her new world. It would be one where he would never have to worry about killing people again. Or be a pawn to a faceless yet constantly changing group of fools. He'd live a life in peace, with her, for the rest of their lives. Taking the initiative, Koko leaned down and kissed Damien on his forehead. It was a little longer than Valmet was comfortable with.

"You already know that answer." Koko said looking back at her. "But we'll leave this be for now. I'm just so glad you're ok. I'll be right back. I'm just gonna grab another blanket and I'll sleep on the other couch."

Koko then quietly left the room so as not to wake Damien, then ran down the hall. Leaving the two of them alone. She did know the answer, but she was afraid of how Damien would react to it. He often did have a poor sense of optimism and he was still afraid of himself more than anything. He thought if he heard it come from her that something horrible would happen as if every time he made any type of choice for anything it would make everything worse. And with what he had been through in the last three years, she couldn't blame him. So it seemed like there was something else she would have to help him realize. Only he is in charge of his life, nothing of what's happened to him is his fault, and she would never let him be alone ever again. He wasn't aware of what she'd say, but it was a start.

"I love you Damien."

 **January 27** **th** **2011 1000 Hours**

 **Engine Room**

I wondered how much longer we would stay on Kasper's ship. Granted that was a stupid question I thought to myself after we just narrowly declared a private war between China and Koko. But even though this was killing me to admit this, again, Kasper had picked us up when we were with our backs to the wall and we had to fight our way out. One damn thing was for sure, we wouldn't be setting foot in China for a while or even in public because this is what normally happened every time something would erupt. Either a deal goes sour, the wrong people start snooping around, your garden variety hitman shows up, or rival competition that is not too friendly. All these things lead to the possible development of tinnitus, sore shoulders and index fingers, ruined clothes, destruction of property, and unnecessary overuse of ammunition.

"Ahh. Just another day on the job." I said to keep myself motivated as I fell off the pipe I was holding on doing pull ups.

Life had returned to a somewhat state of normal until we had to go on our next scheduled business stop. Like in war we did whatever we could to keep ourselves sane from boredom. Me especially after nearly achieving a colossal failure that more than likely would have sent me on another rampage. But at least I could get some time to myself to blow off some stress with some exercise in the engine room below deck. The heat and thick air made the workout a bit more challenging. Slowly but surely the injury to my hip was healing without complication and I wasn't walking with a limp or any more pain. Didn't mean that I wouldn't hinder my daily routine and pain was something that I had been constantly in ever since I first put on the uniform, regardless of how short the time was officially. So whenever I started hitting the punching bag with my high kicks, all I could feel was just the muscles stretching and the impacts on the bag. The one I borrowed was larger and more bottom heavy, a fighters bag more or less. Since real fights were never in bare feet I always wore my boots since it would give me a hint more power in the strike. Gloves were never necessary for me either but instead of wrapping up my knuckles in tape I just wrapped up some rags on my hands.

Needless to say my strikes had more force behind them as of recent. They've connected with many a man and woman, broke many bones, and bled a lot of flesh.

"No surprise you're the one that stole my bag."

I turned the sound of the voice of an older woman over the noise of the ships engines. Lo and behold one of the receiving ends of my fists decided to pay me a visit. It wasn't the first time on this little pleasure cruise she tried to break the ice. To be fair she did and when it was all over the floor then that was it. The little cub crap she always said to me was getting old. I often wondered if that fucking smile on her face was just a botched face lift. Couldn't be any worse than the other possible time she went under a knife to keep those beach balls from being deflated.

 _Then again, Sophia told me hers are real and…Wait a minute! What the hell am I thinking!?_

I quickly got THAT lucid thought out of my head by punching the bag even harder. Then again Lehm's ex wasn't really discreet about what she had. She even dressed similarly to Sophia with simpler attire except she had a preference for clothes her age but it seemed she always wanted to show that tattoo on her forearm.

"You keep hitting that hard you'll break your hand before you break your opponent." She said walking to the other side of the bag. Arms crossed and hair in her face.

"I've been in plenty of fights and I've always walked away alive." I said with a kick to the side of bag that sent it to my left with some momentum. While trying to give the indication that I wanted to be left alone.

But as I went to follow up with another with a little more force, the bag didn't even move. As I held my position I saw the sole of Chiquita's boot on the other side. Apparently she hit the bag with a spinning back kick while I hit the bag with my kick at the same time. The gender stereotype of women in combat came down with little effort on me a long time ago so it didn't surprise me on how well she held her ground against me twice in a fight. I don't boast my strength or speed or technique, I simply AM an expert in my profession. Regardless of the fact that I disgraced and abandoned my nation and it's military. I can't just unlearn all those skills in waging war. But it didn't change the fact that a woman who had at least twenty years on me had stopped my kick on a bag that had an average weight of a seasoned US Marine. You'd have to experience this moment for yourself to understand how somewhat terrifying it is.

"You've never won against _me_ , _mishka._ " She said as we both relaxed our stances as she made her way to face me.

"You had interference from the Three Stooges and Koko stopped me from blowing your head off. As far as I'm concerned they were both draws. And stop calling me that. I ain't your fuckin' pet cub."

She then held her hand to her chin. "You right. Your Valmet's and that wouldn't be fair to her."

I just gave her a look of annoyance, I did kinda walk into that one. Plus she wasn't wrong. But as far as relationships went with her and Kasper, it was strictly business. I was still a novice in trying to learn from Koko on how to operate in the gray area even though they did save us and gave us a place to hide out for a while.

"I don't got time for this shit. Do you need something? Cause you're interrupting my regiment."

"You got shot again didn't you?" Her permanent smile relaxed a bit.

"Yeah so what?"

"Don't "So What?" me _mishka._ It's no secret you and Valmet care about each other on a level more than you'd like to admit. But from what the old man was telling me you acted rather reckless this time and if one thing went wrong you would have died. And that would have made Valmet very sad. Koko even more. I haven't been around her as much as Lehm has but I've known her and her brother all their lives since I first started working for Floyd. They're as much my family as I am theirs."

"Your point?"

"I'll teach you a few things that will help keep you alive for a little bit longer."

I disagreed instantly. "I have no-"

"You don't have a choice in this matter Damien." But then she cut me off. "Floyd saved my life and I won't let his daughter be protected by an overconfident dumbass that doesn't care if he lives or dies. So shut up and follow me."

As she then turned away with her hands in her pockets I noticed that her permanent smile turned into a neutral line. First time I ever saw her without it, like at all. Including wondering what the hell she meant by old man Hekmatyar saving her life.

"And before you say anything else I've got Koko's, the old man's, and Valmet's approval to get you to drop that loner bullshit that you still don't wanna let go." She stopped to turn around with her smile plastered on again. "So you can deal with them if you don't want to."

 _Of course you did. Goddamnit._

"Don't look so disappointed _mishka._ It'll be fun. Trust me."

 **1045 Hours**

 **Cargo Hold**

Not really having much of a choice I then followed her to the much more open cargo holds. A few padded rubber mats were laid on the floor so as whatever the hell we were about to do we didn't break something if we landed on solid metal. I figured I just get this over with listen to whatever she had to say and mimic whatever she was gonna teach me. I had more than enough experience with my own styles in Pencak Silat, Mui Thai, and Krav Maga. I hoped that whatever she was about to show wasn't flashy but I could take in the fact that she took combat as seriously as I did. Unless you have to take someone alive and/or unharmed, you just shoot 'em and move on.

"I understand that you're pretty good at disarming your opponents by using their own momentum against them and targeting the joints. Your own variety of martial arts is good too but it comes with a big weakness."

"Don't just say that I rely on my size and strength, I can't help how I'm built. And despite what you may think I'm a lot more flexible than you realize." I really didn't wanna deal with this master pupil bullshit.

"I wasn't going to even say that. You know of your own limitations and compensate for them. However you use your abilities to their fullest potential."

Took me a little by surprise. "How is ending a fight as quick as possible not a good thing? Combat ain't supposed to be pretty."

"It's because you think that everyone you come across is going to be on the level of people like us. Not to mention that your average opponent is below you in terms of ability as well as the literal physical sense. You wanting to throw all your might into a strike WILL burn you out and make your moves sloppy. You do have a limit on how many men you can fight against and even though it's rare name a time when you've fought an enemy that was truly by themselves. So if and when you do get back to your gun you'll be slow on the trigger. So…"

She then reached behind her waisted and pulled out her Sig Sauer and unloaded it. I was somewhat interested in where this was going to go but I noticed that the gun looked a little cleaner and somewhat less used as compared to last time I saw it. I then got to look at it closer as she tossed it to me. It wasn't a 226 it was a 2022.

"Hey wait a damn minute, this is my gun!"

"Quite an arsenal you have. You do have to tell me who made that fancy travel case." She said uncaring.

"The fuck were you doing looking through my gear!?" I demanded.

"Calm down, Valmet gave me permission. Plus it's your own fault that you left it unlocked and wide open. That was just still in its case."

I just growled in annoyance. Just cause I didn't use this pistol didn't mean it gave her an excuse to take it.

"I also needed it because this is part of the exercise. And I got these from Valmet too." She then pulled out a rubber practice knife from her pocket. "Now just hold that gun like you would normally and walk toward me."

I just stared at her. It was starting to dawn on me that this really wasn't worth it. I'd prefer the scolding from Koko.

"Look Damien I get it." Her quirky attitude then turned somber. It was followed by the second loss of her smile. "You have every right to be furious and not trust Kasper or me for what we did to you. But I'm asking you to believe me that how all that went down was not on a personal level. I don't want to sound cliché but it was just business. It was in the past. If you think he took it too far then it was an accident. Kasper said it himself, he didn't want to kill you. And neither did I. Why are you still holding onto this grudge? Didn't we send those kids off to where they would be happy? Didn't we just recently just give you and Koko a hiding spot?"

She wasn't berating me, she was more along the lines of trying to see what they did was wrong. These were the moments in my life in which I hated sometimes. Surprisingly kind acts by people that are on some level or another, terrible. And here I am acting like a fucking hypocrite again. This was my life now, I had to get used to it no matter how awkward and mentally unbarring it can be sometimes. But I couldn't apologize to her and tell her she was right. Not yet anyway.

"You said approach you like I would normally." Palms pressed together like normal. "What's next?"

That lazy smile came back. "Fall into the moves."

Not knowing what to expect I just approached her as if I was gonna put her in zip ties next. But what came next was her using one hand to pull my gun forward and her other hand to strike my ear. She then leaned into my side and landed an elbow at the top of my sternum. Then she used her body weight to push me to the floor by the face while putting pressure on my wrist to force me to let go of the gun. Even with the rubber mat there was a very audible thud when I hit the floor, pretty hard.

"I said fall _into_ the moves. Not take every strike."

I just cursed under my breath as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Alright get up we'll try something a different approach. Come at me again."

Regretting it but doing it anyway I came at her with a more aggressive movement. Sensing she would go for the wrist again I would move into her and sweep her leg out. I was right but she was quicker than she looked. While pulling my arm she got behind me and pulled me down by the nose while falling backward over her knee.

"Come on _mishka_ you're acting like an amateur. Try again."

She was right, I was fighting like a complete loser. I had to shake off this funk I had placed myself in after worrying about Sophia so much. The two hard landings on the floor did a damn good job of getting me to realize I would have to go back into the fray soon and I would be dead if I acted like this. Getting back on my feet I opened the distance between her and myself with the gun up ready to go.

 _Ok. New approach._

She tilted her head as if she was expecting something different and she was right, I just couldn't let her see it until the last possible second. As her black bangs drooped down across her green eyes I approached again. When all else fails; be unpredictable.

Just as I got within range I dropped the gun and caught her own wrist just as she was about to grab mine while connecting elbows. Sensing a follow up I saw her about to counter with her free arm. Catching it and pushing it to the side I took her other arm and wrapped it around in a lock. Stepping into her front I let the pressure points do their work and as she shouted in pain I threw her to the ground. Finishing up by stomping next to her head with the thud echoing around the cargo hold. It wasn't really the proper way in Silat but normally once you have your enemy on the ground you have to finish them off. That's where my operator training came in when I would use either a gun, knife, or stomp on their throat.

In spite of all that, she still had that damn smile on her face. Only difference was the surprised look in her eyes.

"Better?" I asked letting her know I hadn't rusted up the slightest.

"Much." She answered while getting up herself. I wasn't gonna offer a hand anyway.

"I'm also not going to learn anything if you don't tell me what your actually doing."

"It's called Systema. A free form martial art that focuses on disabling an opponent using pressure points and joints. Similar to your Krav Maga but all of its moves can be used with knives and pistols. I can teach you how to implement a rifle into it but that would take a month or two. And you're not stay on this ship for that long."

She looked like she had been practicing that type of form her entire life. Then again she was a veteran with leagues more experience than I had but I would hold my guesses on how she actually learned that. Another question that I was asking myself from a while ago was what did she mean when Floyd Hekmatyar saved her life. With my curiosity peaked I dove into one of my dictionaries on another language I hoped I got the proper response.

"Otkuda vy eto uznali?"

(Where did you learn this?)

Her smile widened a little more. I guessed right.

"Ochen' davno. Kogda zanaves nakonets nachal padat'."

(A long time ago. When the curtain was starting to fall.)

It was not really a priority on figuring out who she was when we first met, I was more concerned with staying alive and making sure those kids got away. But it is a bit of an interesting experience from meeting someone that long ago was technically supposed to be a part of the United States' sworn enemy. Then again politics tend to determine who a nation should hate so it fits their own fucking agenda. People are different. They all have stories from when they were young, events they took part in, little quirks that make them all unique. I didn't think I'd ever come across one that was the mirror version of the CIA. Or from my experience, the same shit only in a different bucket.

"Ya poluchay eto seychas. Chto sluchilos'? Vy uznayete, chto Mat'Rossiya ne takaya slavnaya?"

(I get it now. What happened? You find out Mother Russia isn't so glorious?)

Her smile remained but her green eyes narrowed. It also appeared she wanted to change back languages.

"To me it never was. It's not even where I was born. My father just took me and my mother back to Russia from Estonia when I came of age." She then looked up to the cargo holds flickering lights. "A beautiful, strong, ideal, family fit to be the perfect example of the Motherland." She said sarcastically.

I then got back into my defensive stance. Get her to do two things at once and maybe give me a bit of an advantage.

"So how does the KGB fit into all of this?" I didn't need to catch it on the nose.

"Try and get out of this next arm lock." She then got into her own stance. "The initial plan was to just to expand his reach and pull." I stepped forward with a swing and she used both her arms to lock mine into place. "But I saw it as a new home and a chance to put some adventure in my life." She then put a little extra pressure on that caused me to yelp in pain. "The adrenaline is just a bonus."

Using some quick footwork I put myself on her side. "When'd old man Hekmatyar step in?" Using my near half foot height advantage on her I then locked her own arm behind her head. "Somehow I got the feeling the Soviet's didn't let you go willingly." Then I finished her off with a knee to the sternum and used my own momentum to throw her to the floor. "Two for two. We're even."

She then twirled her legs on the ground to get me at a distance and then got back on her feet. "After everything around them was falling apart and not wanting to admit it, I took some information that they didn't want to let leak out." She then stepped forward with a kick. But as I dodged it she leapt in the air and used her other leg to trap me in a scissor like move and let her weight drop me to the ground. Springing back up, she went to deliver a finishing kick but I caught it at the last moment. Unfortunately I caught it with both hands and she then twirled and kicked me in the jaw with her free leg. "It was around that time Floyd was making a name for himself. In exchange for keeping me hidden from the Russians I helped him make a slew of arms deals and connections in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa that he still has today." I didn't get up immediately after that last blow. Reaching inside of my mouth I saw blood on my finger-tips. "Come on get up. Something like that won't slow you down." She said crouched down on one knee, her hand out, still smiling. Not wanting to show off the attitude of a complete dick I took it. But not without protest.

"Are you actually going to teach me anything or are we just going to pick up where we left off?"

She then walked back and grabbed my 2022 that was still on the mat.

"I need to know what I'm working with. And it has experience with a great amount of room for growth. My only regret is that I wish I had more time to develop it more."

These used to be the types of things I tended to get jumpy around. But sometimes I do tend to overthink things. Cause I remembered what she said earlier about old man Hekmatyar. I only just wished she wasn't praising me for potential cause at my core I wasn't worth it. At least I could return the professional courtesy properly now.

"I'm grateful. But don't even think that I'm gonna turn out into a younger version of your ex-husband. I ain't him and it would be creepy and weird."

She then approached me and tapped the grip of the pistol on my chest.

"He and I had our differences but despite his dry and lazy demeanor he puts protecting Koko above everything else. I am glad that she's found someone that can do more than that."

I then took my gun back. "Might be a problem. She and Sophia have been doing a little more than their staring contests and I'm in the middle of it."

She chuckled. "I thought you already made your decision?"

"It's…complicated." I said looking at the unused sidearm Koko gave me.

I then felt a pat on my head. "I won't lie and say that I know what you've been through. But you still have your youth Damien, don't waste it. Koko has the closest group of people I've ever met in my life. I want her to be happy just as much as you do. But what your doing right now is not healthy for you, her, or Valmet." Her hand moved from my head to my face. "So far right now you've been lucky and it's not going to last. You need to make a choice and this time you have to make it your final decision."

" _This" time? Oh shit._

"What did she tell you?" I asked dreading the answer.

She took her hand away. "Enough to come to the conclusion that you care about them both. But you're too stubborn to say that there's only one of them you love."

I just groaned and ran my hands through my long hair. "Like I said it's complicated."

"Well uncomplicate it _mishka._ "

"Seriously. Stop calling me that."

"Hmm. Tell you what, we still have a two hours until lunch. If you can perfect the basic moves and we get up to knife fighting before that, I'll consider it."

I didn't believe that for a second and now I'd have to cook again once this was over. But what the hell. I still get a new set of skills to use to beat someone's ass.

"Well? What's the first step?"

"Get that hair out of your face. You like Kurt Cobain on his bad days."

Her observation was on point. I hated it when that happened.

 **1320 Hours**

 **Mess Hall**

I was actually kind of surprised she took lessons she was giving me seriously. I did have a bit of a problem trying to break away from my consistency in what I already knew but some of the moves were just the same type in a different name. I did however forgot that it really drains your energy doing the same move in repetition. Carbo loading tends to fix that.

"The meatballs are good but the sauce is pretty thin. Seven out of ten, _mishka_."

 _Everyone's a critic._

I decided best not react and give her more ammo.

"It's not his fault my brother can't tell the difference between food and grease."

As well as not running an even greater risk of two massive fucking powder kegs sitting across from us. Chiquita at least sat next to me so that I wouldn't be the cause of the friction that would have more than likely set them off. I just continued to eat in peace and hopefully they would too.

"Oh damn it." Sophia cursed as the meatball fell off of her fork and onto the floor.

It was her own fault for putting too much spaghetti on it. But as she went down to clean it up off the floor with her napkin Koko snatched up the last one on her plate. Scarfing it down quickly before Sophia got back up.

 _Oh God really?_

As she got back in her seat she noticed something obviously wasn't on her plate. I just kept eating, Chiquita just looked at her indifferently, Koko couldn't hide all the spaghetti she shoved in her mouth.

"Koko, where's my meatball?"

She finished chewing, swallowed, and dropped her fork on her plate and ran out the galley.

"Get back here!" She shouted chasing after her.

A few moments after that happened, Chiquita broke the awkward silence.

"No comment Damien?"

"What's there to comment about? Koko was hungry. You clean since I cooked." I then wiped the red sauce off my mouth. "And I'm full. Later."

Chiquita then put her hand on my arm before I left the table.

"They're not going to keep up that innocent routine forever Damien."

I leaned back and then slid down the chair a bit. It be best to reassure her that I was gonna handle this properly. Starting from the beginning.

"I actually already told Koko no."

"Well then what happened?" She asked trying to look me in the eye.

"My fucking mess of a life is what happened." I paused for a moment. She let me continue. "It was first during that ambush in Hungary. On New Years Koko told me something rather significant after I witnessed first hand her not so pleasant relationship with her father. And of course you know all about what happened last week. I just…fucking wish all this shit would stop following me around and leave me the fuck alone!"

I then leaned forward, growled, and started slowly clawing my hands across my face. But before any more bad memories wormed their way into my head I caught the sight of a cross surrounded by a sunburst and being pulled into, dare I say it, something rather soft. Along with rubbing on the top of my head.

"Stop trying to blame yourself for things you have no control over Damien. I know your smart enough to know that life isn't painless. You'd know that better than anybody. But not everyone gets a second chance, so don't take it for granted. Make a choice and accept the results."

She was right, I did get another chance. And I was just caught up in too much shit to even realize it. I still had a long way to go to try and make up for what I've done. But most of all, I wanted to figure out what Koko meant by getting me to go back home. The real challenge that lies ahead of me though doesn't even involve trying to stay alive. I already knew what I wanted, but I had to think of the long term consequences. But speaking of not realizing things, learning about others tends to be pleasant at times. Especially if you learn about who or what they are.

"Thanks Anya."

She let out an audible surprise as she let me go. "How'd you figure _that_ out?"

"The moron that owns this rust bucket we're sailing in isn't the only guy in this line of work that's good in finding out things." I said simply.

"Actually I was wondering how you managed to figure out gratitude."

I then started to laugh. That was pretty good. I liked that one.

"And laughter too. You're on a roll."

"Alright you dried up old hag don't ruin it."

She giggled. "That's my _mishka_."

 **2200 Hours**

In a few days we'd be off Kasper's ship and back to our scheduled business trip around Asia. The MSS's interference didn't really make a significant delay in Koko's plan's but that didn't mean it wasn't painful. I wondered though what we would be doing once we were done out here. As I was sitting on the bed in my cabin, checking the news on my phone before I decided to go to bed. I saw the news had been abuzz with the full fledged rebellion that had erupted in Egypt two days ago. North Africa was becoming a massive hot spot with a series of revolutions to what a lot of people are calling, The Arab Spring. It seemed like people were finally done living under the thumb of dictators and had enough. While noble and I applauded them for wanting to be better nations and better people I kept my expectations low. It's simply a common theme that happens in a lot of third world countries. Those that look like heroes then turn into villains because of what they gained through their victories. Economic problems still left behind from those that were previously in charge. Minorities leave majorities in the rut and vice versa. Free elections are promised and then the same guy never leaves office.

"Ugh. Give them another twenty years and they'll be at it again. I'm surprised the US hasn't stepped in yet."

I then caught the silhouette of Sophia coming in the dim cabin. Hair wet and towel around her shoulders from the showers.

"What was that Damien?" She asked.

"Nothing. Just checking the news. Egypt won't be on anyone's vacation spots for a while. Crazy to think we were just there not more six months ago."

She tossed the towel on a chair and sat next to me leaning over to look at the pictures of surprisingly massive amounts of people taking to the streets calling for the ousting the President and his cabinet. It wasn't bloodless but it was fascinating to see that the people wanted to make this thing as painless as possible.

"Yeah, it was. This tends to happen more than you think. Whenever Koko supplies the demand it gets used. Only a matter of time of whether it gets used or not."

"Hmm."

I then shut my phone off and then the light. Sophia then crawled under the blankets next to me. I did want to talk to her, but not yet. It wasn't the time.

"I'm proud of you."

"For what?"

"Manning up and putting a past experience behind you."

"Well, one step at a time."

She smiled and then kissed me good night on the forehead. The bruised portion when Chiquita kicked it. She closed her eye and went right to sleep, but I just kept looking at her for a few minutes.

 _Why is she so beautiful?_

The choice was not going to be easy for any of us. Both of them saved my life but she and I share so many experiences and things. The real question was finding out the appropriate way to make the final decision. I won't screw this up.


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45: The Next Step**

 **February 1** **st** **2011 1200 Hours**

 **SOCOM Operations Room "The Wolves Den", The Pentagon, Washington DC**

"Shadow 5-5 this is Abyss. The Candle is about to be lit. Ensure that does not happen."

" _Copy that Abyss. Candle will remain unlit until it's in our possession."_

A majority of the US military's current operations were focused on the Middle East but that did not mean that Special Operations Command faltered in its other duties around the world. Especially with the ever growing amount of violence happening just south of the United States border. For decades even before the turn of the millennium, life became cheaper by the country the further south you traveled. But the drug cartel violence in Mexico had continued to spiral out of control and was slowly becoming a second Columbia of the 1980's. Gangs such as the Los Zetas the Sinaloa were growing more powerful and more violent with the trade in drugs and their ruthlessness had installed immense fear on the citizens of Mexico. Their government had failed in every attempt so far in order to quell the violence but a majority of those failures were in part of the ever growing reach of the cartel's influence. If they were not bought off, then they were killed. The true body count of how many people, both innocent and guilty, had climbed to where there were more dying in the span of a year instead of an actual warzone such as Iraq.

"Sir, Shadow 5-4 and 5-3 are in position as well. Predator drone is on standby." A staff member said.

"Very good Alice. Target will be marked before they clear the block so remember that it will be danger close Lieutenant Foster."

"Safety's on sir. I won't fire unless they say so." He said with his eyes glued to the drones live feed.

Now the violence had started to spill over into US border cities and towns. Illegal immigration had been a problem in the United States for years but when bullets start coming across the border there was little argument made in order for US SOCOM, along with other federal agencies, to earn its pay. The Mexican government had already asked the US for help but they were already helping the DEA in making their jobs easier by going into places they legally couldn't. There were few that the US still trusted in the Mexican government, primarily because of the cartels reach and influence. So the US government didn't involve itself more than it needed to unless it was absolutely necessary. But in the simplified version, it really wasn't anyone else's problem but Mexico's. But Marcus Andrushko wondered how much longer it would be until people would start screaming enough was enough. He saw it more times than he cared to mention first hand. Iraq was an example a lot of people like to use but many tend to forget that just as the US had started to ramp up it's War on Terror the Congo had ended its second civil war and had close to four million people dead in the span of four years. There weren't really any large scale battles either. Most of it was just the militia's and guerrilla groups terrorizing the locals and leaving such a mess in their wake it made Somalia seem tame and controlled. People just tend to watch what happens and only when it spills out of ones own borders do other nations start getting jumpy. He was sick of it and glad that once spring came around that he would be done with it and let someone else handle it. But until then, he had a job to do. That was making sure the Delta Force team he was directing all got home alive.

"All Shadows this is Abyss. Candle is in the candelabra. Stand by."

On the main monitor was a down looking satellite with a thermal scan of a section of the Mexican city of Nogales just over the border in Arizona. A prime entry point for drug shipments into the US but interrupting a shipment was not the main objective. No matter how many drugs that either get intercepted or destroyed, another shipment makes it through or takes its place. But not having the money to do it though makes a drug czars entire operation grind to a screeching halt. Even better if someone can access his own funds, which one of the Los Zetas lieutenants was about to deliver to his distributors. The Delta's mission was simple; apprehend the accountant, or the "Candle" and make him tell them everything he knows about how to access his boss's money. Everything else was expendable.

A three vehicle convoy had just parked outside and several people had entered a rather crude looking hotel. An effective disguise for a multi-million dollar deal about to go down. Outside in the alley behind it were five trucks, most likely loaded with cocaine, ready to depart the moment payment was confirmed. Inside though was a Delta Force team ready to engage the cartel members one floor below them. Earlier, they had casually cleared the floor of guards with the perfected art of the silent kill. Another was down the street in plain clothes preventing their escape route and a third was painting the building with a drone strike as well as providing sniper support two streets over.

" _This is Shadow 5-3 target identified as a male with a dark blue shirt and gold trimmed sunglasses. He has the transfer case too."_

Slightly annoyed by the operators lack of radio security on what they were looking for on the accountant. The General ignored it and took his place in the center of the room crossing his arms and focusing on the main screen. He then let them off their leashes.

"Copy that. All call signs you are clear to engage. Apprehend the Candle."

Although it was fairly quiet inside The Wolves Den, what was happening on the other side of the screen was the same type of controlled chaos that had happened in war. What followed were muffled gunshots and shouts of orders in both English and Spanish. A blast then came on the screen of one of the delivery trucks outside thanks to a conveniently placed demolition charge planted on it by the team inside the hotel earlier. That kept the trucks in the alley so that they couldn't get away. Andrushko had been in these types of operations before so he knew all of the risks they were going through. He remembered the confined spaces of urban warfare. When indoors cover was either little or poor and how what could be on the other side of a simple door could mean life or death. Streets were just as worse with the enemy frequently having the high ground and could hit you from any direction. Now here he was as the one that directed where the players would go. All he could do was trust in his fellow Special Forces that they would perform their tasks above and beyond the best of their abilities.

" _Abyss! Target is on the move! They're holding us back! Too much incoming fire."_ One of the Delta's said through the chatter.

"5-4?" The General said calmly.

" _Already on it sir."_

As the accountants convoy was about to reverse out of the area the overwatch team then directed sniper fire to stop the rear car. As well as provide suppressing fire on the entrance and windows to the bottom floor of the hotel so that the cartel members couldn't leave the building without getting picked off. It took them five dead men later to figure out running into the street was a bad idea. As the center car then collided with the rear car filled with dead passengers that was supposed to be its rear guard it then sped forward. This was to divert the escaping accountant directly into the plain clothes team. Thanks to some placed Claymore mines they then disabled the lead vehicle and its occupants with 800 steel ball bearings. The thin framework of the car did little to stop the high velocity moving shrapnel from ripping apart its occupants. Some of the staff reacted in being glad they didn't have to witness the carnage that was left over from the explosion. While the cut off team was busy with the accountant, the General tuned into the team that was under fire.

"5-5 the Candle is about to be taken. Disengage and fall back to the rendezvous."

" _Copy that Abyss! Everyone fall back!"_

Andrushko then covered the microphone with his hand so to not interrupt the radio traffic.

"Foster divert the Predator toward the hotel now, we need to trap as many of them as we can in there."

"Sir they're still not clear." The Air Force Lieutenant said concerned.

"Calm down kid I promised Sam and his boys a case of Blue Label and whole side of beef for when they get back to Goldwater. I don't want to be called a liar. Bishop?" He called to another one of the staff.

"Shadow 5-3 has the accountant and the wire transfer case, sir. They're falling back."

"Shadow 5-5 have you made it to the sewer? The curtain is about to fall."

" _There's a truck parked over the hatch. Our route's cut off!"_

"Shit!" Andrushko cursed as he looked over the screen.

The flashing beacons indicated Shadow 5-5 and where they were on the map of the city on a different screen. Darting his eyes around and doing some quick calculations in his head, The General acted as the pathfinder for his men on the ground.

"Alright cut left down the alley and move two buildings over. There'll be another entrance there. You won't be able to make a discreet exit, but it leads you back on your path. Move!"

" _Abyss this is Shadow 5-4 are we clear to laze the target?"_ The overwatch team was getting impatient.

"Not yet. You still have men in the killzone."

A tense minute had passed. Andrushko had took more than enough time to properly plan the battle so that the outcome would come out in the Delta's favor. Memorizing the map of the city had helped too. If any hiccups happened he would then improvise.

"Sir the Predator's in range for air strike. All I need to know is where I'm aiming."

"5-5?" Andrushko asked gritting his teeth.

" _We're clear! 5-4 paint the target!"_

" _On it!"_

The confirmation tone then immediately sounded on Lieutenant Foster's screen. Highlighting the hotel's target coordinates on his HUD. Foster then did his part.

"I have tone. Weapons lock. Firing!"

On the screen came a beeping that stayed at a steady rhythm until it stopped and the hotel then exploded in a blurred cloud of smoke on the main screen. A muffled explosion could be heard from Shadow 5-4's radio.

" _Target destroyed. Falling back to the rally point."_

" _This is 5-3. We have the candle and it's wick is unlit."_

"Copy that. You know what to do. Once you have the wick, melt down the candle."

The staff had already been briefed on how this operation had been labeled as top secret. So it was no surprise to anyone that an execution order was just given. The Justice Department only needed to find out how to access the accounts of this one rather large chapter of the Zetas. They'd didn't say how they would get it and they didn't really need to have someone lead the way for them.

" _Yes sir."_ The Delta member said without hesitation.

"Over and out." The General then relaxed his posture, took off his headset, took a deep breath and addressed the room. "Great job everybody. Mission accomplished."

A slight applause and shouts of victory then filled the operations room below the Pentagon. But Andrushko knew that this was just one more battle in a long war that he knew he would not live to see the end of.

 **1400 Hours**

 **Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting Room "The Tank"**

No matter what the mission, big or small, there were always the debriefings. This one however had a lot more brass to appeal along with a video call to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. Andrushko kept it short and to the point as he finished up.

"They're already on their way back and will be at Goldwater within the hour Admiral."

As he finished up with his fists behind his back, Admiral Olson then looked to his chief tactician with a grateful acknowledgment.

" _Well done Marcus. Keep in touch and we'll discuss your next assignment."_

"That's if I'll be around to do it." He whispered to himself and looking down a little sad.

" _Something wrong General?"_

"No sir. Just an unimportant issue that I need to discuss with you at much later date." He said readjusting his pose.

" _Very well."_ The monitor feed then cut off, leaving the General with the heads of each of the nations armed forces.

Even with two stars on his chest, he felt rather overwhelmed by the levels of military power that was in front of him. But more often than not some of the men that reach these types of positions tend to lean towards the political spectrum of things sometimes. Some senior officers resented him sometimes simply because that he started out as an enlisted man and did not come from any type of academy. That he was not of their pedigree. It was that same centuries old quarrel that had existed between officers and enlisted men. But upon seeing things from both sides, they have their strengths and weaknesses in many things but as long as they still worked together and fought the impending enemy then they would get along. Andrushko didn't care anymore though, his time was up. He then focused on Chairman Mullen for his next set of orders.

"So how did it feel being the first one to use the most state of the art combat command center in the world?"

The General kept his true thoughts to himself, it was overkill in every sense of the word. He was briefed about the development and construction of this new SOCOM Command Center months in advance. This was just the live fire test against a group that already had absolutely no chance against them. But you have to walk before you can run and this was another step in reestablishing the status of being the world's sole dominant superpower. The big problem with that though, was that if ever it wanted to achieve its full scale unrestrained potential they would also have to face another world power and that would lead to full scale unrestrained destruction. Then nobody truly wins.

"It performed exceptionally sir. Captain Beaumont and his team would have handled it well even if I wasn't looking over their shoulders the whole time." He said highlighting about wanting to give his men a little privacy.

"I know you have good faith in your subordinates but true battlefields are becoming more and more scarce. And in order for us to maintain an advantage on our enemy we have to continue to evolve."

"No argument here sir."

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs then collected his preliminary reports and straightened his tie on his Navy uniform before he addressed the rest of the room.

"If anyone else has anything to add I have to meet with the SECDEF in twenty." No one answered. "Dismissed."

Andrushko then stood and attention, made a right face and exited the room in a proper manner even though no one was looking at him. As he left the room though he saw two familiar faces talking to each other, Captain Shumaker and Agent Carlyle. His was just as indifferent as usual, the Air Force pilot though was one of concern.

"You kept us waiting Marcus." He said trying to humor him.

"Just following through. I already told Olson all of it, this was just to make it formal."

He motioned that they should walk and talk. Civilians and military personnel around them going about their daily routine. Despite its history and high publicity, on the inside the Pentagon looked almost like your average run of the mill office building with a few extra decorated rooms. Only difference was its level of security and information flow. The sanity of the sheer amount of it was questionable.

"I thought you didn't care."

"I still don't. I absolutely hate earning points just by looking good. I seriously doubt any of them have ever truly been on the receiving end of gunfire. But I can't keep pulling the Green Beret card forever."

This was one of the more controversial things that discreetly happened when no one was looking. Andrushko never detested other officers that were above or below him unless they did something that was truly wrong. But he had more respect for those that were not only natural leaders but also went through the same hardships as their men did. Especially if they came under fire. He could at least take comfort in the fact that future generations of leaders would be actual combat veterans. With how long this war was going on, there would be quite a few.

"I find it strange that you don't like Generals even though you're one yourself."

"Well I find it stranger that you work for National Security and you tend to focus on what other countries are doing. Isn't that the CIA's job?"

While the two older men chided each other the Air Force pilot started to become agitated. The news he received of the aftermath of the raid was not positive.

"Sir I don't mean to interrupt but I need to let you know something. Full details are on the report in your office but this is urgent."

"I already know about the damn logistics network Calvin. I already discussed it with Chief Casey."

The General had actually made a false assumption. Shumaker's face grew grim.

"No sir it's not that. The drone strike caused more collateral damage that we though."

"What do mean?" The General said stopping in the middle of the hall.

Shumaker then leaned in close after seeing that everyone was out of range of a whisper.

"When the Predator missile struck the hotel it collapsed onto the opposing building. There were eleven civilian casualties so far and climbing. Mexican authorities are raising hell about what happened."

But as the Captain backed away he noticed that his commander had held the same stone faced expression he had when he asked him to clarify what he meant.

"And?" He simply said.

"Sir?" Shumaker responded unsure of the General's coldness.

"First off do not go and start blabbing off debriefs in the middle of the fucking hallway Captain."

The General crossed his arms and faced his liaison to the Pararescue Jumpers with an angry sharp scowl. He didn't have the same type of complexion or conservative haircut other General's had. He looked like he still worked for a living with a barely regulation high and tight and it looked like he forgot to shave this morning. His unnatural cold blue eyes matched the cold lack of emotion in his voice. He did not want to make a scene inside of the most powerful military headquarters in the world but he had to ensure proper discipline when it came to security matters. The agent of the NSA simply let the General do his duty and pretend like he wasn't paying attention.

"There is a reason why black ops are named the way they are. There is also a reason why that if something goes wrong we deny any involvement in said affair. We've had fifty years to perfect the art of unconventional warfare, in which we are an expert like no other. And in war, innocent people die all the time. If you think that our line of work doesn't come without risk then you should have kept flying your F-16. Now if you have anything else to say that's not up to public conversation we'll do that in my office. If not, as you were."

The Green Beret then walked off aggressively, the authority that he had earned carved a path through the hallway with both soldier and civilian knowing that he meant business. Shumaker was left behind defeated but reminded of what he had signed up for. Things were not so clear cut in this particular section of the United States military. He was also reminded that while he may have made airstrikes against insurgents in Iraq before he decided to transport PJ's, his current superior officer had killed men in fire fights or even with his bare hands all over the world. It was at it's purest form, an apex predator establishing its dominance.

"Don't let the blows keep you on the ground Mr. Shumaker." Carlyle said to get him back to his senses. "It's good that you feel that way, it keeps you human. But in our line of work you have to keep a little darkness in your heart. White knights on valiant steeds make for good story telling but reality is a little more complicated."

The agent of the NSA then left to catch up to the General, he had to give his own share of intelligence matters with what the other agencies had gathered during the previous week. With the catastrophe that happened in Budapest, Director Panetta gave explicit orders to all of his branch directors and section chiefs to be a little more open in sharing intelligence with the other agencies. But in the simplified version of why that Carlyle heard from his boss General Alexander himself, they simply were lacking in personnel to do their job because a lot of them were killed.

When General Keith Alexander was appointed as the first man in charge of USCYBERCOM, he chose former US Marine Major Peter Carlyle as his go to guy for cyber sleuthing. While his spy craft was good on its own he wasn't really an expert in computers until he managed to crack a Chinese Naval encryption in a day when a whole group of other experts had struggled for years. But now it looked like that the moment he was starting to perfect his newfound craft, it appeared that it would be turned over to civilian hands. Cyber security would be entirely civilian focused and not federal. Needless to say that a lot of senior military personnel that were privy to this information felt like that they were no longer responsible for protecting their country. Civilian oversight of the military was what made sure that it defended its country and not define it. While practical and necessary, total control over a security matter on this scale was questionable. Civilians were often susceptible to influence and this is what Carlyle thought was very dangerous.

"I know you already know but I would like to know your own personal thoughts at least." He asked.

The General then turned to the agent as with his normal tone. As if the scorning he gave the pilot had never happened.

"The Grid? Ahh…I'm all for war not being so fucking costly. But when you measure it in money and not human life it doesn't really draw out any constructive criticism."

"Well isn't war mostly _de_ structive anyway?"

Andrushko just rolled his eyes at the former Marines poor sense of humor.

"You're not helping."

 **February 4** **th** **2011 1000 Hours**

 **Taipei, Taiwan**

We had arrived in Manila before January ended and it had now been a week since we flew out and had spent a rather generous, and much more on guard, time in the capital of Taiwan. Kasper had a rather important international military conference he had to attend to that was occurring at the end of the month and he was the one that was poised to announce HCLI's new satellite network and its details to the world. The secrecy about it was still pretty tight, but then again since it was HCLI's most valued project. I still didn't really care about corporate things but the attention that Koko and Professor Amada were getting was making me more and more curious. It wasn't on my mind when we the _Crimson Sparrow_ made port in Manila. We went straight to the airport the moment we got off the ship. But not before Koko said her proper goodbye and thank you to her brother, along with me getting another pat on the head from Chiquita. She still didn't want to drop that cub shit and Lehm didn't seem to care about her comparing us to each other again. I asked him when we drove off on which divorce did he finally realize that sticking around he was a bad idea. Like his usual lazy self he answered: All of them.

"AHH! Damn it." The coffee I got was a little too hot.

"Burn your tongue again?" Koko said. It wasn't the first time I downed a hot drink too fast.

Since we flew a little further south it gradually became warmer and it was actually pretty decent outside for it being February. The clear sky with the sun coming down almost made it feel like spring outside but it wasn't. So before we went off to our next meeting with this hardware and software manufacturer we all decided to sit down and have brunch at an open air café. I sat with Koko by ourselves and the rest of the crew as spread around the other two seat tables conservatively. We were still on high alert after Shanghai but we couldn't be paranoid, and it was a rather nice day.

"Yeah. But I'm alright. Was just thinking about Chiquita comparing me to Lehm again. She's slowly become the trope of being a blind old bat. I have ZERO intention of looking that shitty later in life."

"I heard that kid." He said in his usual carefree demeanor two tables over. Koko giggling.

"Hide it all you want Damien. But I know that the two of you along with Kasper have made amends. She's also more right than you care to admit." She said sipping her tea.

"Educate me then."

I stared out to the streets to watch people go about their daily lives. Them having no clue that an arms dealer that was a partial owner of a multibillion dollar business empire was going about her business. But they probably wouldn't be surprised.

In the economic world, Taiwan was known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers" that included South Korea, Hong Kong, and our next stop Singapore. Meaning that they had a massive industrial and economic growth rate fifty years ago and turned them into the leading financial capitals of Pacific Asia. Our next trip to Singapore was going to be more on the financial side of things but for here, Koko was just really going shopping. Probably gonna send all of this stuff to her "Toy Factory" in Port Elizabeth.

"Well you both wear shirts that wrap around you rather than fit you. Your vocabularies are very limited. No one want's to be around you both when you smoke. Laziness seems to fit you both pretty well…"

"That's WHAT we are. Not who." I said cutting her off.

She then leaned across the table and flicked me on the forehead.

"I wasn't done yet." She then sat back down. "You both also take what you do very seriously. You both want to keep all of us safe. Your both prone to lashing out with your fists instead of your heads. You both have only so many things you can really do in this world. You both have saved my life more than once."

These were the little moments where I didn't feel worthy enough to be in front of her when she was right about things. But one damn thing was for sure that I was not gonna end up like Lehm did when I got older. Truth be told I don't wanna keep living this kind of life anymore now that so many things have gone more positively for me in the last year rather than negatively. And like she said, there's only so many things I can do and my generous amount of money I have in my pocket is finite.

"And you both like Eastern European women with tattoos, black hair, big muscles, and huge tits."

As Koko said that out of nowhere, I unintentionally took a rather large gulp of still hot coffee. Not enough to burn the tongue or anything else as I kind of shot it back like if I was shooting back whiskey. The hot liquid burning down my esophagus the entire way. Not one of the more pleasant experiences I've had in my life. Plus Koko laughing at my misery broke down my pride even further.

But in hindsight, her analysis was not incorrect. That and Sophia was dressed in a lighter set of clothes for the type of day it was. People like her, myself included, can't really hide what we have.

 **1100 Hours**

 **Bai Technology and Development**

This wasn't the first place we had stopped by today, it was actually the third. In the simplified version Koko wanted to begin production on a specific set of microchips, data units, and all other types of electronic gizmos pronounced in five dollar words. Most likely this had to do with this "Jormungand" thing she was working on. Whatever it was, I didn't partake in as much interest in it as I did before. Koko's "persuasion" reassured that it was for something rather big besides what she said she would give me but it appeared I'd have to wait and hear it out from her when she was ready. While there were quite a few high numbers being mentioned, I did kind of tune out since what they were discussing was kind of boring. But as compared to what we usually did, I prefer boring.

"You look happy man. What's up?"

Me and the true big man of the crew Ugo were keeping watch outside of the conference room while Koko went about her business inside with Tojo and Sophia.

"I'm glad nothing is happening, that's why." I then leaned back on the wall and put my hands in my pockets.

The New Yorker then chuckled. "Wanna know something funny?"

"What?"

"I thought those exact same words until Mao shot my old boss in the head."

"And from what he told me you needed a clean pair of shorts. But yeah I get it."

I wasn't gonna slack on sentry duty, he knew this but I let him know anyway.

"I do find it a little weird that Koko's doing a decent amount of business in person out here in Asia. Normally this is Kasper's job and other than an occasional trip or two she never goes outside of Europe or Africa for this long. Even with the rocket launches it was just watch it go up and that's that. We get back on a plane and head back to Europe or the ship."

"Maybe her dad asked her to help out Kasper. Probably made a call to her when I wasn't looking. Either way I don't care. As long as we don't have a repeat of a few weeks ago."

Ugo then peeked into the conference room to check on her out of habit.

"How's your hip by the way?"

I felt the spot through the pants pocket the ragged feeling of a scar that was stitched up rather hastily.

"Still aches but honestly it doesn't compare to the second time I ever got shot." I then rolled up my right jacket sleeve. "Went right through my forearm."

"How did that happen?" He said glancing at the somewhat faded hole.

"Some asshole got a little too annoying so I started beating his face in. I didn't see his friend pull a gun on me. He was probably aiming for my head but he hit my arm when I was following up for another punch. Damn thing hurt like hell but I got him before he got me."

"You said second. When was the first?"

When Mike said that I only then realized what month it also was. Five more days and it would be the anniversary of the worst night of my life. But before anything else would come to mind Koko appeared in the doorway. It appeared that the meeting was over.

"It was three years ago. A former SEAL shot out a chunk of his side." She then poked where I was hit. I never was ticklish. "And he didn't even care that he was hit."

Mike then looked to me in shock and was probably wondering who I went up against. He didn't know the whole story, only three members of the crew did. Well technically four did and judging from the last few conversations we had before he died he was a little more informed than most.

"All done?" I asked.

"This was the last one, we're done for the day." She then looped her arm around mine again. "Lets go take some pictures of Liberty Square. I put your camera in your bag."

However before we could leave Sophia barged in between us.

"Koko it's my job to be your personal escort. I don't see the need for you to be that close to Damien."

"I said the day is over, not your task. And I don't see the difference on who would be my escort. I just chose him."

I immediately recognized the tone the both of them were speaking in. To the average eye it was just neutral discussion. But subconsciously there were sparks in between them and slowly forming into fire.

"I thought that after our talk we agreed that such methods were irrelevant."

"You are welcome to try a different approach. That is if you have any idea how that would work."

 _Oh crap._

As they both started to bicker I noticed Tojo was looking at them more than Mike was. Using our own unique hand signals I made sure that Ugo saw me with seriously implied urgency on my face. He knew why.

 _Run. Car. Now!_

"I will take lead position with Damien. You can be behind me since it already makes sense."

There's the thunder.

"I won't allow him to be distracted by the certain aspects that you can't seem to cover."

And there's the lightning.

We had driven here in two cars with us in the lead with Tojo and Sophia in the rear with Koko. It sucked that I had to use him as the sacrificial pawn for this but there ain't no way in hell I wanted to deal with this shit. I'd prefer to live rather than separate those two. Plus he'd get over it. As we both slowly backed away Tojo saw us and wondered where we were going. I made a different set of motions to him.

 _Stay here. Don't move._

We were around the corner in the hallway and just before we got out of sight I saw the look on his face that he had been duped. The two of us then hauled ass to the elevator just as they both started to shout. Luckily for us some people were just getting off the elevator and we ducked inside and hit the close button. Just in time as I heard Koko shout to Tojo where me and Mike had gone.

"Sorry Aki baby. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

"I know it's not my business but those two have been at each others throats since we left China. I thought Koko was glad that she was ok."

I just gave him a deadpanned stare.

"Come on man, I know you and the rest of the guys gossip when the three of us aren't around in the same vicinity. You know what that was really about."

"Well I don't have the balls that Lutz does to call it out like that cause I like keeping mine attached to me."

The elevator then reached the lobby and we headed out towards the parking garage. Taking a few pictures of Liberty Square seemed like a good idea and by the time we got there the two of them would have cooled off. My phone then rang and obviously I didn't answer it for fear of either one of two screaming banshees.

"We gonna wait for them?" Ugo asked.

"God no. Lets get out of here."

"Your funeral." He said as he then took out his own ringing cell. He didn't answer it either.

"I thank ya'll."

"Fuhgeddaboudit." He said as he hit the unlock button on the keys.

His latest toy was a black Cadillac CTS, which technically weren't even out yet, but Koko could pull the strings on anything. Nobody was gonna keep a guy like Mike from driving in style. After we both put on our sunglasses I did kinda feel like I was about to go out and collect protection money. Two massive men in a luxury sedan pull up to a business establishment normally spells trouble. But I'd deal with that once Koko and Sophia had calmed down.

"By the way I wanted to ask. I just had the keys why didn't you just take them?"

"I needed someone else to for Koko to yell at besides me once she catches up to us."

"What!? Why!?"

"Takes the pressure off of me." I said undeterred as we pulled out.

"How the hell does that work? She's gonna think I was in on this! I just got this car man I don't wanna lose it!"

"Calm down, Mikey. Just leave the little lady to me."

"Really? What happens if she decides to yell at you anyway?"

"I said I'll handle it!"

Truth be told I wasn't really planning anything that far ahead. I just wanted to get the fuck away from that storm that was brewing before I was caught in the wind. It's weird that I can avoid detection and capture if from behind an enemies line with hundreds of troops around me with no problem at all. But I can't get away from one girl and her clinginess. It also doesn't help that I don't know what to really say to another one.

 **Gloria Residence Hotel, Koko's Suite**

 **2200 Hours**

I was so glad that this little trip to another spot in Asia wasn't as chaotic as the last two. What I find rather bizarre though was that regardless of what happened three years ago, I technically have been in one way or another three straight years of constant conflict. I did get my breaks here and there to breathe but I was always on alert and constantly on the move. Whether it would be a new client or on the run from whatever type of authorities in whichever country I was in. But in the last ten months since I hooked up with Koko I've seen more of the world than I could ever imagine. All the spots where people and culture were at and not just spots on a map like what was normal for me for two years. I did feel a little guilty about living in the type of luxury I was in though. Disavowing my current status, a normal soldier would never be in the position I was in. At best if he'd ever come across, say a dictator's mansion or villa it would be somewhat in a state of ruin. The last time that even remotely happened besides OIF and Saddam's palace was at the end of World War Two. This level of comfort though did give me my moments to reflect on past actions and see that I had continued to make myself better than I once was. But there were still moments I was frightened of, namely the future. What was ahead of me? Would I be able to start over? Will I share it with someone?

"Come on kid your on patrol." Lehm said after I uploaded my last photo on my computer.

"Got it."

I then grabbed my ACR and made sure it was loaded. Obviously I took the M320 off so as not to look too crazy. Everyone else was already asleep. It was good that we would enjoy one more night out here before we headed off to Singapore. It had been a while since I had been to Malaysia. Despite working for a group of modern day and much more sophisticated pirates, it was one of the nicer places I went in my travels. I'd be able to take more pictures of the temples and any type of festivity that would be happening.

"By the way, what did she say before we left?"

He had to be asking about what Koko had told me at the Square before dragging me out of everyone's line of sight and hearing.

"If I ever run away from them when it concerns me again she'll strangle me with my own hair."

He then let out his one note chuckle. "I wasn't talking about Koko."

I paused for a moment to think before I went out the door to hook up with Ugo. Damning myself for not thinking about the obvious. Curious though as to why he'd even care.

"Only what was necessary." I then faced him. "That and she said you're gonna have a stroke if you keep doing this."

He just let it roll off his shoulder as he then lit up his last cigarette for the day. I then left the room and made for the end of the hallway. Chiquita's words were still fresh in my head. I couldn't believe I was actually listening to her considering almost every time we met one of us threw a punch.

" _I think the reason why she finds such an interest in you is because she's never found anyone as strong willed and steadfast as her."_

She was not talking about Sophia.

" _I may have protected her but she never really had a chance to grow up. Floyd raised his own children to profit from war. But she now sees a chance to be her own person. I can't make you do anything. But don't let her be alone."_

It was a little contradicting from what the man said to me himself but as the old saying goes, there's always two sides to every story.

"It never gets easier." I said to myself.

"With you it's damn near impossible." I froze at the voice of what came from the ultimate tomboy.

I shut my eyes and then took a single step around the corner. Ugo had to have switched with her as payback from the other half of the scorning Koko gave the two of us. Bastard. I opened them in hesitation to see a woman standing six foot three, over two hundred pounds, pitch black hair, and a single gold eye. Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, an MP5 dangling from her hip, and a look of contempt on her face.

"Hi." I said nervously.

"Since we now have some time to ourselves. You and I need to have a talk." She then closed the distance and me taking some slow movements backwards.

Once again I can take on any man, machine, or challenge without blinking. But something that kinda transcends being human is something else. That and I also care about her.

"I'm all ears so what's up?"

"You've been avoiding me an awful lot as of recent. I don't like it."

"I'd figure I'd respect your boundaries and give you some privacy?"

Lying and not telling her the real reason wasn't the best way to start.

"Don't try and act stupid Damien. You know what Koko and I were talking about and I'm gonna end this now."

She then pushed me through the door that was the exit to the stairwell.

"Listen do we have to do this here and now? We do have a patrol to do."

She then put both of her hands on the wall keeping me in place. The look on her face was expecting truthful answers.

"I get you're the brooding silent type and I know that's not the real you. But you only act in a happier and more positive way when your around both me _and_ Koko. So what am I to you?"

This was something I was dreading for the longest time. Now I had no choice. And I was literally treading in the dark.

"I…can't answer that Sophia."

She then slammed her hand on the wall immediately.

"I don't wanna hear that shit! I want to know..."

"It's because I don't know how to answer that! That and I'm also afraid!"

"Of what?" She asked like she didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about.

"I'm just so damn terrified of that if I take that big step I'm gonna fall off of a cliff. I don't know what "normal" is anymore. You, Koko, Lehm, Karl, and everyone else are best thing that's ever happened to me. But there's still so much that I've left in my wake that it will catch up to me eventually and I will be the cause of it. The proof of that is what happened to you. I might not be that lucky again! I don't want to lose you! If I…!"

Before I went any further she grabbed my head and pulled my lips to hers. I just shut my eyes and enjoyed the moment.

"For someone that doesn't really believe in fate you have a bad habit of thinking that everything is going to happen in the worst case scenario." She then wrapped her well-toned arms around and held me close with her well-endowed chest against mine. "So if you think that happens I'm going to be right there to prove you wrong."

I smiled. "Thank you Sophia. Was there anything else?"

"It wasn't the answer I was looking for. But I heard what I needed to hear. Now you need to show me that you mean it." She said as she started to undo my belt buckle.

"Umm…" Props for boldness. But why here?

"Don't think about it too hard." She said as she unzipped her own pants. "A woman does have her needs."

A valid point. But I didn't want her to do all the work as I leaned in for another kiss and put my hand up her shirt. Squeezing one of the massive breasts underneath as she started breathe heavily while the clatter of my rifle and her SMG collided with each other before we did. We then looked at them and chuckled as we did have to be quiet. We then unslinged them and put them against the wall before we continued. We didn't have time to get undressed and redressed since we did have a patrol to do. Her aroused look was all I needed to do to begin as she clawed her hands down my back with her hands and I leaned in and bit on her collarbone. Our carnal desires then took over us and wanted to make sure that we both satisfied each other. While trying to maintain a level of subtlety so that the suppressed moans of pleasure didn't bring any unwanted attention. I don't know which answer she was looking for, but I was honest in making sure that I would not lose her.

But if what Koko had said she'd give me would be true then maybe I could muster up the courage to make that final step in telling her how I feel. Most importantly I would see where I was going and steer away from the cliff. All of what I had right now, would mean nothing if there was nowhere for me to go.


	47. Chapter 46

**Author's Note: This one should have been uploaded last week. I got a little too caught up in playing the release of the new Resident Evil 2 and I frankly forgot.**

 **Once again, thank you all for the views along with the fav's and follows. This continues to be an enjoyable hobby.**

 **Chapter 46: New World Order**

 **February 9** **th** **2011 0015 Hours**

 **Singapore, Fullerton Bay Hotel**

I couldn't sleep again. Not just because of the insomnia, but it was rather difficult to believe that three years had passed in which seemed like an eternity ago. What was puzzling though was that I didn't feel as jittery and miserable this time. Just bored and annoyed that I couldn't sleep. It was a rather pleasant night and not as humid as it was the previous day. While a refreshing change of pace it was a little stressful on my body jumping from a cold climate to a hot one in a short amount of time. It hadn't gotten acclimated to the temperature change and I was sweating a bit. I wasn't on shift tonight and I don't think anyone would have minded if I just had a few moments to myself. So I decided to take a trip up to the roof and just watch the cityscape and the boats passing by in the bay.

While being one of the global hubs for innovation, technology, tourism, trade and practically damn near anything one can do in the world, I found it a little funny that Singapore's original name wasn't that original. Before the British occupation when it was still a part of the Johor Sultanate it had gone by many names but _Pulau Ujong_ in Malay translates to "Island at the End." So yeah. But despite the simple name, the huge influences of Buddhist, Islamic, and Western cultures turned this little island nation into one of the most diverse, multiethnic, and quite frankly enjoyable looking places in the world. Being one of the Four Asian Tigers it was also the most rapidly developed countries that happened within the span of one generation. Transforming from third world to first world in little more than half a century. But to me what really made it unique, and probably the biggest reason why we were here, was that it is a well-known tax haven. With practically no tax rates from foreign investors a company or an individual can get around a lot of laws and keep every penny they earn. Legitimate and/or otherwise. With having a knack for walking on the grey line, it's natural that Koko liked to move around her money through places like this. Conduit OFC's is the official name for what she was out here for but I'd like to think that this is a good way of making sure that there were no anomalies that were occurring with any type of recent transactions. It was a good way of taking the initiative in making sure you business empire was running smoothly. She was doubling her efforts as of recent. A interesting change of pace as compared to last year where she was just making deals and then moving on.

"Warm out tonight?"

Leaving my status of being lost in thought, I turned around to the familiar voice of the lady with white hair and blue eyes. Ponytail up top and in what appeared to be her sleep ware. And still wearing that shield around her neck. Looks like she really likes it.

"Warmer last night."

Even though three out of five states I've lived in had atrocious humidity and sun you only get used to it if you change along with the seasons. Bouncing around the planet from a place that has seasons to another that doesn't can be bad for the skin. Worse so if a majority of your wardrobe is dark colors and you're in a tropical environment.

"You've been to Malaysia before. Ever take a trip across the bridge to here?" She said walking next to me.

"Nah. I was mostly busy smuggling tobacco, alcohol, stolen goods and lot of other shit between Indonesia and Thailand. The pirates I was working for don't really like to advertise but they're a little more sophisticated than you might think. I'd bet you at least one of those big tankers out there are hauling something that they're not supposed to." I would have pointed out to sea but we were still further inland.

"Guns too I suppose."

"Oh yeah. Apart from your standard Chinese copy of the AK there were a few nice pieces here and there. Sometimes though you get a custom made one with fancy engravings and grips. More than likely a special order for one of the drug kingpins inside the Golden Triangle."

Truth be told I was thinking of stealing one that time and hock it for some quick cash but I doubt I'd be able to get rid of it in that short of a time window.

"Hmpf. For all the knowledge I have in weapons I never saw any positive aspects in modifications of that nature. To me someone who wants to show off that level of wealth is the very definition of what a bloated ego is."

I then looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

"You do realize you own a ship that by itself is at least a hundred million dollars? Spending a couple grand to make a gun shiny is chump change."

"Yes but I use it all the time. And anything else I add to it is keep it maintained or improved."

"So does that mean that I can finally get that extra freezer I want for all the meat I got?

With how often I cook I wanted to stock up so that I wouldn't have to do any extra grocery shopping for a few months. I was doing it every time we made port.

"You just got paid not more than a week ago. Why am _I_ still getting you shit?"

This is the part where we would both playfully start ripping on each other. All in good nature of course.

"That's how you stay financially secure."

"By acting like a damn mooch?"

"By constructing financial success using multiple sources of income to allow your own to grow." I said raising my finger as if I was giving a lecture.

"That's just a smart of saying to get money from other people. Don't try to act smart while sounding like a dick."

"Fuck. I was hoping you wouldn't figure that out."

She won this round. For the next couple of minutes we just stared at the city scape and passing boats in the marina. Horns blaring in the distance several miles out at sea. No moon out tonight, but the warm breeze made me think of the first nights I spent in Greece, the Bahama's, and Egypt. I already knew why she was up here, I ain't that dense. But there were times I wanted to be by myself and I sometimes wished she wasn't so clingy. Sometimes.

"I only needed some time to myself. I don't feel like absolute shit. Just can't keep my eyes closed."

"I'm not even concerned. I only wanted to come up here and ask what you wanted to do today."

I then looked to her confused. "Don't you have to go to the bank this morning?"

"I called and rescheduled for tomorrow. I'm giving the guys the day off to walk around the city. And it's funny that despite our recent conversation, anything you want to do today is on me." She paused. "For-today-only!"

"You don't need to do that." I said simply.

"Yes I do. We've been doing nothing but work out here. It's nice to have one day to relax. And you're not going to be able to do that by staying up all night."

"Yes I can. I'll spend the whole day taking a nap. That's relaxing ain't it?"

She then slapped me across the arm.

"You're going to spend the day having fun even if I have to drag you around all over the city in the process." She said commandingly.

"You'll throw your back out and rip up my clothes dragging me along the ground like that. That's if you don't pass out from heat stroke."

She then got into her pouting stance again. This time the victory goes to me. Then she started hitting my arm as if she was child throwing a tantrum. While somewhat immature it never got old.

"Your going to have a pleasant day with me whether you like it or not! It's not fair that Valmet keeps you all to herself! I can't stand you being around her all the time! I need you too!" She then stopped to breathe. And me pausing to be sure I heard that right. "So stop with the brooding and try to get some sleep. There's a botanical garden that's within walking distance from the hotel. You have to do that first. Then we'll come back and you can sleep on the couch for the rest of the day if that's what you really want to do."

She then left me alone on the roof. Grumbling something about me being energetic and lazy at the same time. Looks like I didn't have much of a choice in this matter. I hated it when that happened. But I wondered how Sophia was gonna react to this. It's not like she's gonna just let me go with Koko. But she was right on one thing, I would at least try to get some sleep. I've finally managed to battle back the insomnia. I can't lose the momentum now. But it was nice out tonight and I decided to wait a little while longer for Sophia to fall deeper into sleep before I went back down to our room.

 _I doubt she'll be able to convince her though._

 **0945 Hours**

 **Gardens By The Bay**

"THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST RIDICULOUS LOAD OF PIG CRAP I HAVE EVER HEARD OF IN MY LIFE!"

The shout in the middle of a rather nice scenic area of beautiful flowers drew the attention of more people than I wanted. But I could give a damn about what people think about my reaction if I interpreted what Koko said was true.

"Out of everything that we've been through, THAT'S what you find unbelievable?" Koko said.

"Ugh Christ. And she actually told me that she doesn't know me at all."

Sophia is very close to Koko and vice versa. On occasion when I first joined up with Koko maybe a little too close. I know for a fact that they would do anything for each other. But there is that point in which there's a difference between loyalty and being a lapdog. Koko's explanation, go buy all kinds of sweets and expand her wardrobe and when she's done she'll "reward" her.

…

I know that I had already surpassed the point of forgetting to try and make sense of shit. But it never fails to amaze me on how limitless that void is on when baffling crap just happens and it's so goddamn hard to believe. Next thing I'd expect is the Earth is flat, Bigfoot exists, or the Moon Landing was fake.

"Well you can either stand there with that dumb look on your face or we can enjoy ourselves." I was so flabbergasted I didn't know she was already behind me walking away. "Come on, it's a beautiful day."

If I thought about that anymore I would have given myself a migraine. So I'd figure I'd just enjoy my time with her and get back to enjoying the view. Before I asked that specific question on how Koko was gonna get Sophia to allow me to spend the day with her, our walk to the gardens after breakfast it was a pretty sight to look at. The towers that were apparently supposed be some kind of modern art version of trees had vines growing on them and apparently they lit up at night. There were also two domes that we were about to walk into that were like artificial hill sides that you could walk inside. And of course, the flowers. The endless amounts of flowers. I only decided to take a few pictures anyway because from after looking around the place and analyzing it a bit. With seeing all of the different types of people from all around the world. It did seem like another tourist trap only with a lot more open ground to walk around. But it smelled nice, so that's a plus.

"You know, I can't tell whether or not I should be amused or frightened at the sight of a man your size kneeling down and sniffing a flower."

I did some offense to that. Those that assume tend to make an ass out of you and me but her opinion was valid. As always, I do stand out. That don't mean I can't appreciate other things.

"Just because I'm bigger than most guns I hold doesn't mean I can't partake in life's little pleasures. I noticed when I was a boy that smaller flowers not only have a greater scent but the reason for that is what makes certain honey's taste different. Blossoms especially."

We then started making our way up to the second level. Koko had her big straw hat on and a rather simple sun dress today. Combine me with my cargo shorts and black shirt we did kind of look like tourists.

"Build up your culinary knowledge?" She asked.

"Part of it. You'd me amazed at how many different types of sauces and marinades that honey is used in."

"Hmm. How bout we talk about something else other that food? I don't want to get hungry again and start thinking about lunch already."

"Alright then I'll solve that real quick." Best to lighten the mood with a little humor. "Good luck with that. Moment were done I'm heading back to the hotel to take a nap. So you're on your own."

"Oh stop it!" She said while smacking me with her hat.

After chuckling to myself I then looked outside the glass dome. Clouds were coming in and they blocked out the sun. Just normal ones, it wasn't going to rain today.

"There is something I've been meaning to ask you." She said readjusting her hat.

"Sup?"

"You're middle name, Hannibal."

A little bit out of nowhere. But I looked to her with my interest piqued again.

"What about it?"

"One of the greatest military strategists and tacticians in the history of the world. His methods and exploits are still taught in military academies all over world to this day. Leading the army of Carthage he held his ground against the Roman Empire for fifteen years."

"History IS my strong suit Koko. I know all about him, his war elephants, losing his eye, Zama, the whole nine. What's your point?"

"It kind of contradicts your personality of a straight forward approach. I just wanted to know why your parents named you that."

"I thought you knew everything about me." I remembered our first car ride together. It was hard not to when you almost get blown to hell with an anti-tank missile.

"Just what you've done. There's always something new to learn about a person."

It was a bit of an interesting story. At it's basic premise, just two young minds thinking of only what they could at that age.

"The idea for it actually came from my mom."

"Really? How did that happen?"

"She was so convinced that she was going to have a girl that she didn't bother helping my dad pick out boy names. So she chose the name Hannah and you can probably guess of the surprise the doctors told her."

"How upset was she?" Koko said with her smile widening.

"While she was busy trying to figure out why what was in between my legs was different, dad jumped in at the right moment and came up with the name on the spot. Granted he was also just a kid and maybe naming me like that sounded badass or some shit. But he did it to make mom feel a little better. One of his little successes that kept them together until she died."

She then giggled. "Nice story."

"I do have a few that aren't all blood and tears."

After a few more minutes of walking around, we saw all we needed to see. But I figured I keep the conversation going. She wouldn't catch on to this question since as far as I know, she was still in the dark about it.

"What about your mom? What's she like?"

Her smile remained. But her eyes were hidden by her straw hat.

"Koko?"

"I wouldn't really know. Only what my father told me. She died when I was a baby and I doubt Kasper would remember her at all."

 _Somehow I think I should have expected that answer._

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well what did he tell you?"

She sighed. "Other then she was a big part of why HCLI was so successful and that I look exactly like her. He praised her almost all the time, said some of the happiest moments he ever had in his life." She paused. "Had. And despite him saying all these wonderful things about her, I don't think I've ever seen him truly mourn her. Fact of the matter is I don't think I ever had a mother."

I decided not to press any further then that. Once again this was radically different from what old man Hekmatyar told me. Every story is interpreted differently and there is the possibility that he might have performed a nice guy act in front of me. But he was discreet in the fact that we had met before he talked to Koko and me together. It also seemed that he wanted to try and help her. There were many blurred out spots to get a full detail of the picture and I had no real way to bring them into focus. I was missing something and it could either be under my nose or out of my sight in the distance.

But sometimes though, things aren't my business. And my curiosity has gotten the better of me more than once. At the times when it was necessary though, produced results that were still detrimental to my job. Just because we were out on the town again and we hadn't had as many problems with hitmen or kidnappers in recent months, for Koko of course, didn't mean I'd be lenient in security measures. I swear I thought I saw some woman, the same one, three or four times in the course of two hours. And always at a distance so I couldn't get a clear look at her. A few times I thought she got a little too close but with the big variety of people and of the same hair and skin color I'd lose her in the crowd. I figured we do the same by moving on.

"Hey uhh…why don't we go to that street market you mentioned earlier? I think lunch does sound like a good idea. It'll be that time when we get there too."

"You want to take me on a date? Thought you said I was on my own?" She said looking to me with her head tilted.

"I lied."

She then stared at me with a combination of a deadpan stare and a smile.

"Valmet's right. You can be a real ass sometimes."

"It's what I do." I said in a proud posture.

 **1632 Hours**

 **Fullerton Bay Hotel, Koko's Suite**

"I can't believe you just spent the whole day on this damn couch."

Ok so I'm a little bit lazy on my off days. Didn't mean that Sophia had to ruin a perfectly good slumber. I did over eat at all of the vendors Koko and I had stopped at so I wanted to let it all digest. I'll probably go on another run before dinner.

"I ate too much." I answered her with my eyes still closed.

"Grr. Well while _you_ were playing hooky _I_ had to spend two hours trying not to fall asleep doing bank and finance reports that Koko was supposed to do BY MYSELF on top of doing shopping for her and the damn car almost ran out of gas."

I then formed a bit of shit eating grin with my eyes still closed. "You love her. You'd do anything for her." I said mockingly.

I then heard the sounds of plastic bags shuffling. Then followed by an avalanche of boxes falling all over me. Lastly, frustrated footsteps getting further away from me.

 _Worth it._

I figured I get up off my ass anyway since we would be busy the next couple of days. The biggest one was that tomorrow, Kasper was going to make the official world-wide announcement for the Hekmatyar Global Grid. Koko and I were talking about it a bit briefly during lunch but she didn't seem interested in it at all. But I could finally get the fully skinny on what the hell this thing really is since it's a big leap for HCLI. Then not long after that we would be heading back to Tokyo. Upon removing the first bag off of my face I saw that maybe Sophia went a little overboard on the shopping. But Koko didn't mention to me that she made her do some of her work for her. I hoped the "reward" wasn't that. After getting on my feet and cracking my neck back into place I saw that the rest of the guys weren't back yet. Probably scouting out places for a good boys night out. Which naturally I will partake in. Karl still thinks he can drink me under the table and he still hasn't won yet. But for now, find Sophia and help her relax.

It was a quick search. I found her sitting on one of the chairs on the balcony. I then made for the fridge grabbed two sodas. The sun was still bright despite how late in the day it was and just as warm.

"I didn't strike too big of a nerve did I?" I said as I handed her a soda.

"I don't know. Is that drink shaken up so that it will explode in my face?"

"You want it or not?"

She took it and started drinking. Sun was still kind of bright out so I put on my shades and sat on the sun chair.

"Don't tell me your just going to change places to sleep?"

Her tone was starting to border on nagging.

"I'm just sitting down and giving you company. God, do you think I'm that lazy?"

"Yes." She said bluntly.

"Ok fine. I wasn't gonna ask if you wanted to go on a run with me later anyway."

Many health nuts will bash you over the head on how bad any form of carbonated drink is. Even if you do exercise after drinking one. But compared to guys like myself who torment the hell out of their bodies on a daily basis you're not going to slow down, you keep getting stronger. Hell you might even do better. Joe Namath himself drank beer and smoked cigarettes on the sidelines when he wasn't on the field and moved just as fast and threw just as far.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Just gonna make a big circle around three or four blocks from the hotel until I get hungry or the sun goes down."

"Can I come?"

The way she asked surprised me a bit. It was if she didn't want to be left out. "Sure."

I then downed the last of the pop and then went back inside to get myself ready. I then heard the door open, some of the guys were back. They were far enough away that they wouldn't hear me.

"Besides you know how much I love gravity."

She didn't use the deeply enraged look she often formed with those types of comments anymore. The best way I could describe her reactions would be; _"You're lucky you're the only person in the world that can say things like that to me."_ It didn't mean that she got annoyed as she stood up to throw the soda can, a still somewhat full soda can, at me.

"Anybody here? We're ba-AHH!" Lutz said as I ducked and the can hit him right between the eyes.

"What a lousy shot." I said.

 **1900 Hours**

 **South Bridge Hotel**

" _How the hell did you lose track of them!?"_

"I didn't lose them! They weren't doing anything today that was all!"

That was the partial truth that Schokolade was telling Scarecrow on their satellite call. True to her nature she got caught up in all of the food vendors that by the time she was done eating both Koko and Damien had already left the market.

" _Damn bimbo. Did you at least get a confirmation on where they're going next?"_

The young woman then recomposed herself so as not to scream at her partner over the phone about how much of a jerk he was acting like. She did have a job to do. Koko's sales in weapons have lowered significantly and her purchases in advanced technological products have been on the rise in the last three months. Her superiors at Langley obviously didn't tell her everything but it was weird that Koko had abruptly stopped a majority of her weapons sales. She didn't care as long as she could continuously partake in the local cuisine.

"According to what I've managed to gather so far they still have two more days out here. Then they're taking a flight to Tokyo."

" _I knew it wasn't a coincidence. Ok keep an extra distance from them tomorrow."_

"Wait what coincidence? You mind giving me some kind of update?" The blonde said confused.

" _Koko's gal pal Amalia Tolokhovsky is gonna be dropping by Singapore tomorrow. At that same time, Kasper is gonna be making the announcement for the Grid in Manilia. She'll probably start bargaining with Koko to be let in on whatever she's planning. I'm gonna be watching that thing too so just collect what you find and get back to me within thirty six hours. And try not to stuff your face in the process! Just get me what I need!"_

The phone then clicked. With her instructions received she could now vent out her frustration at her partner without him berating her.

"God. What a dick. Then again he has been getting into a progressively worse mood ever since Bookman wrangled him into following Koko around more. Heh heh."

She then let out a hefty sigh and fell back on her bed with her arms spread out. Her current accommodations were no where near as lavish and comfortable as Koko's was. A benefit of working for the United States government was that they always provided on the cheapest expense for their workers.

"Well at least I can have some more of those noodles again. Koko's hopping around Asia has been fun! Oh so much tasty goodness!"

 **February 10** **th** **2011 2030 Hours**

 **The Pentagon, Washington DC**

"Do we really need to stay at the office to watch this sir? We can just record it and watch it tomorrow."

General Andrushko's Chief of Staff Colonel Arron Raiser had to miss out on his twin daughters basketball game tonight. Granted he, like many other officers on the basis of need to know, had already been briefed that what was going to be announced was needed to be watched. He wished it was on a different date as well as a different time zone since the announcement was from a weapons expo in the Philippines.

"I don't wanna stay any later than the rest of us Colonel. But as I was told this Grid gonna affect ALL of us."

SOCOM's chief tactical operations officer sat at the end of the table in the dimmed meeting room with his subordinates and branch representatives on both sides. On the overhead projector was a live feed of various announcements at the expo along with SOCOM's Commander in Chief Admiral Olsen at the bottom left corner going over some other details with his staff waiting for the announcement.

"Sir I've been a little busy with a few "issues" that's come up in the last month of intel coming in and out of Afghanistan. Mind catching me up on what this is really all about?"

The Naval officer asking the question was Commander Joseph Krauser, General Andrushko's link to the SEAL's. A sailor down to the bone he joined the fleet just before the War on Terror began and not long after that, the Navy's Special Warfare Group.

"Shumaker?" He said looking to the pilot to answer for him.

"Yes sir. In the simplified version, a revolutionary new type of logistics, communication, and distribution network."

"What for?"

"I think a lot of us are gonna be out of work."

 **0942 Hours**

 **Changi Airport, Singapore**

I didn't think that we'd be having a visitor from Europe that would fly all the way out here just to discuss a few purchases on some drones. Unless there was something else Koko missed apart from our trip to the bank this morning.

"Damien~."

I did wonder why we were at the airport though. We weren't scheduled to leave until tomorrow. We set up the meeting spot away from where most of the air traffic was happening. Sporting plain clothes and had only our sidearms underneath them. No need to attract attention. Unlike a certain well-dressed clingy girl with blue eyes.

"Da~mien~."

Might as well play hard to get by teasing her a bit by not looking at her with a stone like expression. Even though she was tugging at my shirt a little hard.

"Come on. I wanna talk to you."

"Ugh. I'm trying to work Koko. Can you stop it with the grabbing and pulling?"

"There's the big grumpy goof we all know and love!"

"Umm. I have to admit Koko you're going a little overboard on the grabbing."

I did have a slight feeling that that was the moment in which would trigger Sophia. And I could also just feel Karl's grin even though he wasn't facing us.

"Jemand, der eifersüchtig ist?" He said in his native tongue of German. No damn way he would have said whatever was on his mind that openly.

(Somebody feeling jealous?)

But before this escalated any further our visitors had arrived. Two silver BMW's pulled up and as the first bodyguard exited I knew who would immediately follow. It was her security head Viktor Rudenko.

"My dear Koko! Once again it has been far too long!"

Koko then got off of me and went to make the formal introductions. I just waved at Amalia to say hello.

"Glad to see that you managed to make it out her Amalia. Was the trip pleasant?"

"Quite. Actually I was doing a lot of thinking as well. Maybe merge with your families company so that we could spend more time together."

She smiled. Probably wanting to get to the point. "What brings you out here?"

"I have something that I think you might like. Maybe you could lease them out." She then turned to one of her men with a laptop. And another with a joystick.

"Kanal onlayn?"

(Is the feed online?)

"Da." He said with some typing and pointing at the sky.

"Ok. Look up at the sky and say "Peace!""

"Peace!" She said with holding two fingers on each hand.

I would have like to have photo bombed them by sneaking up behind them and flipping the bird but we were on the clock. No need to be childish. A few seconds later the technician came over with his computer.

"This is the still image it captured." Amalia said.

"Wow. I've never any photo with that kind of resolution from a drone." She was genuinely impress from what I could overhear.

"The optics is what makes this particular model so special. We also have a new lighter craft with solar panels mounted on it's wings. Recharges during the day and runs off of it's batteries at night making it possible to circle a target for days on end. With a little research and development into next generation batteries we can make a drone that could stay up there for years!"

 _Unless its run by a computer or something. People can't really work that long. And isn't that what satellites are for?_

"Pardon me Amalia but Kasper Hekmatyar's speech from the Philippines is about to start."

"I almost forgot would you record it for me please?"

"Yes ma'am."

As he left the two of them to themselves I eased my way over to try and hear what the king of the douchebags was about to announce.

"You sure you can wait?" Koko asked Amalia.

"I am curious, there's no doubt about that. Probably something to do with all of those satellites you've launched. Something that will change global distribution? Change the arms trade? Which would more than likely change the way wars are fought. People will wonder why they would need arms dealers like us. However, something tells me that talking to you will be far more profitable in the long run."

That's the real reason why Amalia was all the way out here. I knew that whatever HCLI was putting together was big but didn't expect that it would get Amalia of all people to jump on board without reading the fine print.

 **1000 Hours**

 **Manila, Philippines**

If there was one thing that truly drove all of mankind's creations and advancements in science and technology, it was war. The International Weapons Expose in Manila was the staging ground for all types of companies and nations to demonstrate and promote their latest products. Miniature recon drones, adaptive camouflage, light attack vehicles, next generation assault rifles, and encrypted communication software. With so many representatives from all over the world any normal man would be frozen in place with announcing his companies crowning achievement. But Kasper Hekmatyar was far from what one would call a normal man. He didn't rehearse his speech didn't take any real time to prepare. Dressed in his favorite blue suit he just strolled out on to stage past his bodyguards by himself. Chiquita motioned to Edgar, Allan, and Poe to cool it and just let him make his announcement. The amount of security in the building was already heavy enough. When his speech came up on the teleprompter he tapped the microphone and began. The echo of the room caught the attention of the various military types from around the world.

"Good morning assembled officers, contractors, and defense employees. My name is Kasper Hekmatyar of Hekmatyar and Chevalier Logistics Incorporated."

The various faces of that were professional, nefarious, veteran, and political all just stared back at the young man on stage that looked barely into his twenties. Some expected more, others just sat and watched.

"Hey! Come on people! I'm worried you all will put me to sleep!"

His attempt at humor didn't change the audiences mood. And for some strange reason he couldn't get the thought out of his head of the frustrated groans of a six and a half foot tall beast of a Green Beret.

"Now I know that many of you have worked with HCLI before or me personally. And because of that you know that when it comes to weapons I'm just a merchant. So for this project consider me a spokesman rather than an engineer."

 **1004 Hours**

 **Singapore**

" _If you have any technical questions please take a look at your brochures and abstracts, speak to one of our staff at the end of the presentation, or our home office has a twenty four hour service."_

Even though the tension between the two of us had thawed considerably, it didn't mean that I would want to know Kasper any more than I already had. I tend to avoid people I don't like and being Koko's brother only gets him so far.

"Koko's brother is quite the apathetic speaker. I can see how him and Koko are siblings." Viktor said.

"I prefer the term; absolute jackass." I growled. "He's nothing like Koko."

The older Russian then looked to me. "You know him?"

"I wish I didn't."

As Kasper continued, I looked back at Koko and Amalia still talking business. Like they weren't even interested in the speech.

" _Now to the reason why we're all here. The Hekmatyar Global Grid is a comprehensive logistics command transmission package outsourced to the private sector. Customers will benefit from HCLI's world wide freight network from our system of one hundred and twenty six satellites provides them with unprecedented real time data._

 **2109 Hours**

 **Langley, Virginia, CIA Headquarters**

Knowing that he had difficulty getting any type of information out of Koko Hekmatyar, Bookman found that sometimes the easiest way find something out was just for someone to become comfortable enough with information and that they will provide it willingly. He already knew about the basic design and function of the grid but he was hoping that HCLI didn't sail their ship so fast that it would blow out the hull. He wanted to make sure that the United States would benefit from this as well and not be caught in a sinking ship.

" _Since the time of Rome, armies around the world have been a dog held back by the chain of logistics. It's a chain that limits movement and operational freedom. While at the same time serving as a lifeline."_

Bookman was hoping that by finally pulling HCLI and Koko into his flock he'd be able to make the United States take another big step in achieving greatness. But he was playing with a very dangerous and indiscriminate fire. He had to handle it carefully.

 **2110 Hours**

 **Fort Meade, Maryland, NSA Headquarters**

The newest and first head of USCYBERCOM as well as the Director of the NSA, General Alexander honed in on what HCLI's product was supposed to do. So far everyone in the conference room was only waiting to get past the introduction and get to the meat of the speech. Among those were Peter Carlyle and the recent addition to the NSA while also be a veteran, Yoske Hinoki. Who had a bit of a grin on his face, but Carlyle would wonder what he found so funny later.

"We get it already, so what's your point?" Carlyle said to the screen knowing he wouldn't respond.

"Calm down, Peter. Hinoki are you sure that what you've told me this company can pull off?" The Director asked his new agent.

"I'd bet the house on it sir." The old Japanese Ranger said without adverting his gaze.

" _Supply distribution, communication, maintenance, base construction, and even the most highly trained and capable soldier will be crippled if you strip away only one of these. Unfortunately, all of these things require a boat load of money. So how do you keep your soldiers alive without killing your finances? Streamlining."_

Carlyle knew what his current job entailed and anything that will make it easier will be one less burden off of his shoulders. But he never forgot his duties as a leader of Marines. He knew of HCLI's history in the arms trade and it's shift into the technical aspect of this nature raised a lot of questions. He knew Kasper was only a spokesman for this but he thought of what his company really knew about war, other than profiting from it. War is not just material and capital. Even though that's what a lot of countries fight over.

" _The Global Grid provides support tailored to the operation at hand. By removing the one size fits all approach, our system allows you to expand without increasing cost. Hekmatyar Grid has low overhead, no longer will you need to worry about launching your own satellites or maintaining your own transport fleets. Even countries with strong logistics networks can save time and money with grid and force projections."_

 **2113 Hours**

 **The Pentagon**

" _The word logistics has it's roots in ancient Greek. It literally means "An Expert at Math". Modern military logistics truly exist in a world of numbers and applied math and the people that excel at those things are in the private sector. Not the military. If wars are going to be privatized then let the private sector do what it does best, cost savings and efficiency."_

Some that were frustrated of staying late for a simple announcement had traversed into anger at a subject that had growing rather steadily in the last few years, privatizing war. From the way that Kasper Hekmatyar was describing it sounded like that a nations army was no longer useful in protecting it's people. Only a burden that drains it of its resources and a single group or groups think they know wage war while making sure that ones bank account doesn't fall into the red.

"You know sir. I'm half tempted to take this boy out to a real war zone and have him flash his fucking check book and see if that lets him win much less stay alive."

The angry barking outburst came from Andrushko's representative to the US Marine Recon, Captain Stanley Coleman. An African-American man from Chicago that Andrushko found a kindred spirit in as another man who started as enlisted and worked his way up into becoming an officer. Marines did often have a tendency to be a little too direct but Marcus saw the point he was trying to make. Judging from first impressions the General was glad that this Kasper had admitted to everyone that he was just a distributor. It looked like he had absolutely no idea on how war was truly waged.

"At ease Coleman." He simply said as he saw the Admiral's face in the lower screen.

" _When it comes to making money, governments don't stand a chance next to businessmen like me."_

Andrushko almost never let anything get to him but there was something behind the cold blue eyes of that young man that signified something vicious and dangerous that sent a chill up his spine. Now he saw why Carlyle and General Casey were so high strung about this grid. Contrary to popular opinion, war continues to evolve. But in his own personal feelings, what HCLI was putting out was that they seemed to be only a very, very, very, high technological type of mercenary company. This moment though was one of few in which he was glad he was going to hang up the uniform in a few months. While he still didn't care, it didn't mean he wouldn't go without the feelings of nervousness of the nonsensical way war was heading. To him it was already nonsensical and it does no good to worsen it. The thing that really got under his skin though was that this whole system was focused on saving money, instead of people. He along with so many other grieving parents had lost their children to war, he could give a damn about money.

 **2116 Hours**

 **Fort Meade**

General Alexander's reaction to Kasper Hekmatyar's speech had not been a pleasant one. He took in the fact that he might be the first and only man in command of CYBERCOM. He was not the only high ranking government official to catch wind of this, no doubt the President had as well. There were also a lot of things that Kasper had left unexplained. An example would be when he said to remove the one size fits all approach, he'd hardly heard of any other company coming up with this kind of system. So it appeared that HCLI had a monopoly on it. Not to mention where they would get all the funding for this.

"Hinoki, I'll admit I was skeptical about this. But now it appears that anyone who wears the uniform will no longer be needed."

The former Colonel in the Johohonbu sensed the General's frustration and proceeded to take a neutral stance on the subject.

"I think it's best to wait and see how this plays out. Don't forget you still have the power to strike whenever you want."

Carlyle then looked across the table to Hinoki to see if he was just joking or being serious. The professional way he said it tended to blur out any form of coercive speech. He then saw his superior look to him for his input.

"In my opinion sir when something sounds too good to be true it usually is. I agree with Hinoki about waiting this out. If HCLI can pull off what it's preaching I see no problem, but if they decide to screw us over we screw them even harder. Countries are not like a Paul Vehoven flick where everything is run by businesses and not people."

 **1020 Hours**

 **Singapore**

 _Just when I thought that man's ego couldn't get anymore fuckin bloated he pulls this crap. Now I can see why Koko is wanting to break away from HCLI. This Grid is just one very big and shiny time bomb._

"Controlling ALL war? What an absolute fraud." The hardened looking Russian then took out a cigarette and lit it. "He sounds like some overconfident villain in one of your American comic books."

"Yeah that's Kasper for ya. I'd describe him in simpler terms but it's better that the damn fool explains it himself."

I had gotten a little to drawn into the speech that I wasn't in my original overwatch position. I couldn't believe that Koko's father wanted her to succeed with this. Logistics can only go so far, people are different. Now I began to see why the tension between her father and her was so thick, it had seemed like he had set her up for failure.

"You know her brother that well Mr. Andrushko?" Viktor asked out of curiosity.

"Unfortunately yes but not in the good way Koko and I have. That little speech now really makes me question his sanity. War's may be fought over and for many things but in its purest and most unbiased form they come from two reasons, survival or advantage. Nowadays, especially during the twentieth century, people will just kill each other just cause they don't like who you are. That's nothing more than murder."

I then heard a soft chuckle come from the Russian.

"No two nations see war with the same definition. Knowing of what the both of us are I think the only thing that we would agree on is how shallow minded Kasper is."

"I'm pretty sure mercenaries fall into the grey area man."

"I wasn't talking about our current employer. That, and I will never go back to fighting for my country after I had to shoot through children in order to stop a massacre."

I froze. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Russia's introduction to it's own War on Terror ironically in September of 2004 at the Siege of Beslan."

My thoughts and my heart literally stopped. It was one of the worst terrorist attacks on a school in history. Chechen terrorists seized a school in North Ossetia and took 1,100 people hostage and four fifths of them were children. They demanded Chechen independence or the worst would happen. But the worst happened anyway. Leading to a massive firefight, a poorly executed breach and rescue by Russian police and military, and three hundred and thirty four people dead. Close to two thirds of them, children.

"You were at Beslan?" I asked carefully.

"They called in everyone to stop that siege. I was once part of Spetsnaz's Alpha Group and my team was sent in along with the FSB to make sure this ended one way or another. On the third day when the explosion happened and portions of the school started to burn I knew that this was going to end today and it wouldn't be painless. Despite the discipline and punishment one goes through to earn the right to be called Spetsnaz, nothing ever prepares you for trying to live with a mistake. The chaos that ensued was maddening. Some screamed 'cease fire' while others said 'attack'. Police panicked and fired in a direction where there was no shooting. Tanks and APC's ripped the school apart and I doubt that they hit anything meaningful. When my team finally got the order to breach we fought almost room by room while under fire and they were even using some of the children as shields. The casualties we took just trying to get near them just kept climbing until I was the one in charge of my team of only four other men that could stand and weren't either dead or bleeding. I had to shoot at someone that was at the beginning of their life just to stop another from adding to the chaos."

When I first met Amalia's head of security I thought he was just another man doing his job or a stereotypical example of a Russian tough guy. I didn't think he would be Spetsnaz. But even though he had emotions and physical description of a machine I could tell he was going through some thoughts he would never forget. I knew that pain all too well, and judging that the cigarette in his hand had now burned down all the way to his fingers and he wasn't reacting, I didn't wanna see what he was seeing in his head.

"Viktor." I took his shoulder seeing how his eyes didn't move. "Your gonna burn your finger man."

He came out of his daze and threw his cigarette away. He then squeezed his fist trying to ignore the pain while taking off his sunglasses.

"Anyway, I left the army soon after that and threw my uniform in the garbage. I never wanted to be near a battlefield again, so I figured I'd be better at protecting people where I could actually see them."

As we were talking, Kasper was finishing up the speech on the still live feed from Manila. I didn't care what he was talking about at this point.

"Prosti, Viktor. Vy mozhete verit' etomu, no ya znayu, chto vy chuvstvuyete."

(I'm sorry Viktor. You can choose to believe this but I know how you feel.)

"Kak ty mozhesh' znat', kak ya sebya chuvstvuyu?" He asked as if he was daring.

(How can you know how I feel?)

"Ya ubival lyudey, kotoryye ne zasluzhivali smerti. Teper' ya ne mogu vernut'sya domoy."

(I killed people that didn't deserve to die. Now I can't go back home.)

I then looked back to the actress and the little lady still talking shop. Upon hearing Kasper's speech myself. It didn't surprise me that Koko didn't want to listen to it. It looked like they were about to wrap things up as well.

"So Koko, I must say I remain very curious to see whatever it is your plotting. Can I please be a part of it?" Amalia asked with her hands together and Koko taken back by seeing that she was serious. "I'll pay if that's what you need. Name your price, money is no object."

"Uhh…I beg your pardon Ms. Tolokhovsky what are you talking about?"

I don't know if it was the sun or how forward Amalia was but Koko was starting to sweat. She really was serious and she knew Koko was putting on a poor performance. After a few moments Koko broke the silence but she spoke like she was reading from a cue card.

"HCLI just announced its new logistics package, The Hekmatyar Global Grid. Which will revolutionize how armies are supplied and how wars are fought and won."

I saw the squint in the beautiful violet colored eyes Amalia had. She didn't believe a word Koko said and it wasn't the answer to the question she was asking. Her smile grew a little more and then she turned to me, she knew I was looking at them both.

"Damien-"

I cut her off and raised both my hands.

"I'm sorry Amalia, she won't even tell me. Whatever it is, it looks like you'll have to wait. And Koko you could have just told her that you can't tell her and it's a secret."

Amalia took the hint.

"Hmm. Forgive me Koko it appears that I was being a little too forward in springing on a request like that. I will give it a rest for today. But…that doesn't mean I'm giving up on this. Please if you need any help at all, any help, please give me a call."

"I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"Koko! What did I just say?"

"Oh shut up! Go do your job like chew on some weeds or something!"

 _Far different attitude from our date yesterday._

"Are you still mad because of that extra spicy chicken I told you NOT to get?"

"I said shut up!"

"Spicy chicken? I'm confused. Why are you so angry at Damien?"

The rather hysterical reason our little walk around Singapore ended a little too quickly. I didn't tell anyone yet.

"I warned her that these kebabs were a little hotter than the rest and she didn't listen. She jumped over the counter to grab what she thought was a gallon of water but it was a gallon of vinegar!"

There were a lot of restrained laughs from both Amalia's crew and ours. And Koko burning a hole through my head with her twitching eye.

"Grr. Amalia, I'm sorry but I need to knock a giant moron down to size." She said stomping towards me.

"Dazvidania for now Koko. We'll talk again soon. Hope you live through this Damien!"

"I'll be fine for now Amalia! Later!" I said as I started backing away to our cars.

But then I felt pressure on my elbows and not letting me go anywhere. I then turned around to see Sophia holding me in place with a rather evil grin. She didn't want me to escape.

"Thank you Valmet." Koko said pleased and clearly pissed.

 _Aww fuck. Not again._


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47: Hiding From The Ravens**

 **February 17** **th** **2011 1900 Hours**

 **Amami Onsen, Nanten-en, Kawachinagano, Japan**

Back in Japan again, and our last stop on this round about trip throughout Asia. Only this time Koko wanted to let us have a much more immersive time into the local culture. Providing that last time we were here we had to clean up her idiot brother's mess and we all got shot at. The sight seeing around Tokyo and the surrounding cities were nice and we had a blast but they did feel a bit touristy at times. So Koko hooked us all up with this country side inn that was as reminiscent of old Japan as it could get. Stone gardens, bonsai trees, koi ponds, eating on the floor, all that fancy shit. I did have a bit of a childish urge to just walk through one of the thin paper and wood sliding doors. A running joke from one of my favorite Simpsons episodes when I was a kid when they went to Japan. But even though I had already had a few drinks in my system I thought better, because my wallet would be a lot lighter in what I would have to pay for damages to the hotel. Only difference was instead of green and blooming flowers was snow and bare trees. Still just as nice too look at as I sat Indian style looking out the window.

"Ich werde den käse fahren…ich werde es unterhalb der staubgrenze halten."

(I'll drive the cheese…I'll keep it below the dust limit.)

Unlike the sight of my very incoherent and barely moving sniper buddy spouting slurred German. The man still wanted to see if he could beat me. But his alcohol tolerance was just as bad. Looks like no matter what he took it didn't improve it.

"And brief moment of isolated silence ruined."

In frustration I downed the remnants of my sake bottle and threw it behind me, the matted floor preventing it from breaking. That's if I could even call it booze since it was number five and I wasn't feeling anything. A blessing and curse from drinking a lot of brown spirits with a high proof. Too bad I couldn't smoke indoors.

We had to enjoy these little moments of peace and fun while we could. Since Koko had briefed us before we headed off for fun tonight that we would be flying back to Europe and then off for a rather important mission next month and we needed time to prep for it and gather intel. On what exactly she didn't tell us yet.

"You two STILL at this little drinking challenge?"

Speak of the devil. She dove into the Japanese culture just as much as Tojo did when we got here. With the hotel's kimono and her hair wrapped up in a towel she must have just got out of one of the hot baths.

"He passed out about ten minutes ago. Damn fool doesn't know when to quit."

She then sat next to me.

"Well aren't you going to get a massage and take a dip in the hot springs? It _is_ what this inn's for. Everyone else is relaxing and having fun."

I then gave her a deadpanned stare. She knew by heart that my ways of relaxing my seem eccentric to some but are therapeutic to me. Give me a firing range, a punching bag, or some heavy weights any day.

"You can't massage a rock. If I want a bath I'll just get a shower. And unless I'm going swimming in the ocean, a river, or a chlorinated pool, why would I sit in a confined space of hot water that has someone else's ASS in it? That's not sanitary."

Maybe my tolerance to this brand of sake wasn't as good as I thought it was because that did come out a bit caustic. But Koko just looked at me normally.

"You know sometimes I can't tell if you're being serious or playing around." She said leaning into her hand.

"Can't it be both?" I said smiling. She just smiled back.

"Get out of this room. Because your going to be busy tomorrow."

"Alright I'll grab anyone who wants to play poker or black jack if I can't get more than two." I looked past Koko. Lutz was still out. "He's no good. You know we're just getting more tech for your science project. Not really that hard."

Her face then straightened out a bit. Despite being a bit inebriated, this was probably something she wanted me to pay attention to.

"I didn't say you were going with us. I need your help."

"You don't need to ask me that. What's up?"

She then pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"We've had an eye on us for a while. She's kept her distance and she hasn't done anything to hinder us but for tomorrow I need you to get her to not be where I'm going to be."

I recomposed myself extending out my legs and letting my arms rest on my own knees. I to brace myself mentally and physically for what I was about to ask. This job is not all about traveling the world, buying and selling things. Doesn't matter if they're guns or not.

"Are you asking me to kill someone?"

Being an officer, you are expected to speak as not only as a leader but also an educated individual. With conversations like this though, you had no choice but to be direct. We both looked at each other for a few seconds, our expressions composed of contemplation. Her probably wondering if she heard me right and me waiting on an answer. With my eyes somewhat wandering into the open spot on her kimono, her silver Celtic shield resting on her breast. It wasn't my fucking fault she was a pretty lady.

"Nothing as extreme as that. And I'm up here you perv." She caught me but then went back to her normal self. "If you did that, then we'll have more attention drawn to us than necessary. Plus I like her and she's helped me out more than once. Just keep her away for the day. Don't kidnap her just use your charm and keep her distracted."

My hunch that someone was following us around proved right. But my thoughts then grimaced when who it might have been.

"Wait a minute. Don't tell me it's that ditzy broad that's workin with Scarecrow."

"Don't judge Schokolade as a typical blonde. How would you like it if I compare you to Johnny Bravo?"

 _Girl's pretty informed on all types of comedic entertainment._

"I sound nothing like Elvis and I don't skip leg day." I turned to my left, one bottle remained on the table. "And yeah I get it." I grabbed it and handed it to her.

It wasn't rice sake, it was plum sake. Koko noticed the slight difference as she let it swirl in her mouth for a few moments.

"Tomorrow I'll call Mr. Kiseragi's son Hiro that we'll meet at a different spot. Schokolade will be more than likely wanting to get her hands on something to eat. That's why I placed the original spot near a bunch of good restaurants. Just keep her away from us for an hour or so and then meet us back here. I'll text you when we're done."

"Solid."

"PFANNKUCHEN!" Lutz said with an outburst and then passing back out.

(Pancakes!)

"How about we continue this conversation somewhere else? Karl's really souring the atmosphere."

"Sure." She said giggling.

As we both stood up to leave Lutz behind she then leapt on my back. I don't mind when the girl's playing around and as painful as this is to admit, I like her hugs. But I'm not her damn mule.

"You have legs. Use them." I said somewhat strained as she was hanging off of my neck.

"Oh come on, you've never complained about this. Why now?"

"That oversized bath robe your wearing is hiding all the excess fat."

My humor can be childish at times but applying it to a girl that has somewhat of a childish heart will take it personally. She then climbed up on me higher trying to strangle me while, of all the bizarre things, biting on my head. Her thin arms were not doing so well in squeezing my large neck.

"I don't mind you trying out a sleeper hold but take it easy on the hair. The new conditioner I got lets the shine last longer."

"Take back what you said you…muscle bound…baby faced…stupid head!"

I stifled a laugh. "Anyone ever tell you that you suck at insults."

"Am I interrupting anything?"

I got a little too into riling up Koko that Sophia sort of teleported in front of me. Probably out of the baths too with wet skin, sweatpants, tank top, and her look of jealousy burning a hole through me. And once again I was about to be caught in between a hurricane and a volcano unless I could form the perfect shelter and fast.

"Actually I wanted to ask if you've got any money on you, we'd play cards."

"Then why does my Koko look angry?"

 _Ok no rumble so far. Wait, HER Koko? What am I? Chopped liver?_

"Valmet! I'm giving you an order to kill this man!" She said commandingly. "He called me fat!" She then said pathetically.

Sophia then walked toward me with her arms crossed, chin down, and one gold eye looking up at me.

"Is that true?"

"I don't got time for this shit Sophia. Would you like to play black jack with me or not?"

It took a few moments but she then smiled at me. She at least knew by now that I wouldn't betray her trust and she figured out how Koko liked to play around with me just so she'd get riled up. Sophia wouldn't fall for it now that she'd figure out what Koko was trying to do. Even though this was fun to watch at times I'd have to end this little quarrel of theirs soon though. I just had to prepare myself for it.

"How much you got?" She asked.

 _Catastrophe avoided._

"How much _you_ got?"

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Koko said as she seemed to metaphorically disappear from the conversation.

"Right now about $60 US."

"Shit. I was hoping at least 500. Ah well, I'll get some of the guys and see if we can make a bigger pool."

"Don't you two ignore me!"

But before I continued down the hall with Koko still on me like a magnet. Sophia put her hand on me.

"Hold up. $60 all or nothing. And if you win…" She then swirled her finger around my chest. "You can feel up whatever you want to feel for the rest of the night."

…

"Deal."

The devious look Sophia then gave to Koko that she won this round finally broke the damn. The delirious reaction was followed by the pulling of my long hair on two sides.

"Mutiny! MU-TIN-Y! DAH!"

This continued until we reached Koko's room where Sophia had to pull her off of me.

 **February 18** **th** **2011 1030 Hours**

 **Hirano-Ku, Osaka, Japan**

Not the first time a girl had gotten me to spend money in a way in which I should have known better. Sophia played that shit through the entire game and I lost. But I wasn't too sore about it, I'm not the first guy that got caught up in a woman's charm. Plus it was Sophia, so I don't really care. But reminiscing on last nights fun would have to be set aside for now, I gotta keep this ditz occupied for a while. If anything I would call this a forced type of babysitting. I doubted that she would know how to use a gun or even be armed but I kept only one of my .45's with me just in case.

It was a bit of a cloudy day today but not terribly cold. The run off from the melted snow was sending mud everywhere around the park that was the original meeting place. I then spotted the back of her head immediately. Unless you were blind, anyone would see that blonde hair under a ski cap a mile away.

"Alright there she is, let's hope she doesn't freak."

I then casually walked toward the bench she was sitting at with my hands in my leather jacket pockets the right one had my pistol in it. Once again doing my damnedest not to stand out as an American that was two and a half times the size of everyone around him. To my surprise she dressed discreetly with a grey parka and jeans. I expected bright red or something.

"Brr. Why is it still so cold? Gathering intel on a day like today is SO not worth it."

She sounded like she was bitching. I don't know if it's just my experiences or my former career thinking my thoughts for me but intel gathering don't make exceptions for time, place, or temperature. You get it and that's that.

" _But Koko's been acting strange! Follow her every move! Don't get your dumb ass caught!_ Yeah thanks a crap ton Scarecrow. Why the hell is he always riding my ass!?" She said mocking her partner.

Despite being Kasper Light from the rumors I heard, because this time you probably should have listened to what he had to say.

 _Speaking of which, I still owe that loser a belt to the jaw._

"Koko and her unit already know what I look like. I can't keep at a distance forever but I can't necessarily shadow her either. But it is my forte. Never been spotted let alone captured."

I was standing not more than forty inches from her behind the bench she was sitting on for a good portion of her monologuing to herself. I was surprised she didn't even hear the wet footsteps. I had mastered the art of turning completely invisible by just standing still. That or she's got a real bad problem with attention to detail. The girl's no soldier like me, but even I can see that she has a long way to go in learning spy craft despite being a techy. She then opened a box out of the plastic bag next to her. The contents steaming in the cold air.

"You won't yell at me will you takoyaki? You provide nothing but crunchy juicy deliciousness!" She inhaled the thing in one bite. "So worth it!"

 _Alright I can't take it anymore._

While she was munching away I simply reached beside her and grabbed the box. Hopefully that would get her attention. I can't read Japanese but whatever it was, it was fried.

"Mmm! I want….more?"

She then noticed her pastries were gone and then started looking around frantically, finally noticing me holding them in my hand.

"Hey! Those are mine! Give them back!"

STILL not recognizing who I was, I then probably acting a little too immature for the situation lifted them high above my head like the school bully who took the nerds lunch money. The intent was for her to finally look at my face as she then started to jump to get the box.

"Give! Them! Back!" She said with each bounce.

And sidelining me with the fact on how huge those things were, even under a damn parka. I half expected her to give herself a self-inflicted beating. But after refocusing, this was enough.

"Lord Almighty you dumb broad. It's me! Damien!"

It finally clicked. "Oh crap. How long have you been here?" She asked nervously.

"Enough to tell you that you need to stop focusing on food and more on your job. And if your supposed opposition is telling you this, you at a level that is below zero."

She just stood there scared out of her mind. I kept an eye on her hands to make sure she didn't press a panic button or anything. But I had to let her know I wasn't going to hurt her. So I faked interest and tried one of these fried whatever they were.

"Mmph! PFFT!" It didn't go as I planned. "The fuck is this shit? It tastes like greasy fried chewing gum."

A panicked look then formed on Schokolade's face and we were also in the middle of a public place. I couldn't afford to make a scene so I had to take her somewhere, didn't matter where. But warmer would do. I then cast the box of whatever the hell that was aside, took both her hands, and put on my best act.

"Well enough about that how about we go get some real food?" I then led her with both her hands in my one.

"Hey where are you taking…" I then tightened my grip. "Ow!"

"Shut up and come with me." I said through a smiling grit. "Or I'll break your neck like a chickens."

She then gulped visually and started to shake but she did what I said.

 **1050 Hours**

 **Sumiyoshi Imagawa**

Before we came into this restaurant I picked at random to eat I pulled her aside into an alley and took all of her things along with anything that looked suspicious. As I expected she didn't even have anything to defend herself with. Not even a damn pocket knife. Your not really supposed to care when you frisk someone for anything cause they could have an opportunity to either resist, escape, or kill you. But the feeling of another woman's assets, large and soft ones as well, wasn't leaving my head anytime soon. I was used to weird shit at this point and Koko is the only one I even remotely answer to. The bite mark hiding under my hair was proof of that. But even though Schokolade trusted Koko a lot more than me, it was understandable that a member of her crew wouldn't share the same hospitality.

"Wipe that damn nervous look off your face. I told you that Koko just needed her privacy for the day, nothing more. So just enjoy the free food."

The place wasn't too touristy but honest enough that it was authentic Japanese cuisine. I then poured a cup of tea that the waitress had brought to us earlier and pushed it towards the girl. She didn't take it. And was darting her eyes around, probably trying to figure out what to do to get away from me. But I couldn't use my intimidation or fists this time.

"Look chocolate girl, you see me dragging you around at gun point? Put poison in that cup? Or hell even wait till you're under a piano? Relax." I then poured myself a cup. "Just think of this as company party that you don't want to be at. You have better things to do except that you don't have a choice unless you wanna get yelled at later."

My down to earth way of speaking seemed to work that time. She then became a lot less tense and took the cup just as the waitress came back. Taking out my smart phone I punched in a few works that translated English to Japanese on what to order. The shrimp tempura with extra rice for me and I got the sushi platter for her. Maybe see if her appetite is all that Koko claims it is. At least I knew what I was getting this time, it had to better than whatever the hell I had earlier.

"Why didn't Koko just call me and let me know?" She finally broke the silence.

"It's not you that she had an issue with, it was your boss and his overlords. This way she doesn't ruffle any feathers and the CIA will just maintain their distance. Providing you don't tell them that I am distracting you from your task." I then raised both eyebrows for reassurance. "Read me?"

"Yeah." She said looking and sounding disappointed. I kept the conversation going regardless.

"So what did you do with that rock?"

"Huh?"

"The diamond she gave you that was about the size of your eye. Cash it in or anything?"

"Oh! Oh jeez no. I flew back to America and just put it in my safety deposit box. It'll be a while before I can safely get anything from it without raising some red flags by the Agency. But it's good to know that I have a nest egg for a rainy day or if I ever wanna buy a new house."

"Well good on you. You're thinking ahead. Even though the CIA is a license to print money you know that your own is finite. Maybe you're not as clueless as you make yourself out to be."

"Gee thanks." She said sarcastically.

At least she was speaking to me as normal person. Well normal as far as a CIA tech expert and Green Beret turned mercenary were concerned. As we continued to socialize, the food came out faster than I had anticipated. The fried shrimp still sizzling as if they just came out of the fryer. The platter maybe a little bigger than I had seen on the menu, but Schokolade didn't really seem to care.

"Holy crap! Did you get all of this for me?"

"Too much?"

"Heck no! This is everything I love, sushi wise!" She then took her chopsticks and dug in carnivorously.

That turned out better than I thought. Just put food in front of the girl and she forgets that I technically took her against her will. The shrimp wasn't too bad either, rice was a little sticky though. But as I finished the first one, the girls sat phone then started to ring. No doubt it was her boss. I took it out of my jacket pocket looked at it casually.

"Umm…" She said to get my attention. "I need to answer that. Please?"

I hit the cancel button and did my best not to look or sound menacing.

"You were indisposed for the whole day observing Koko and could not risk answering any calls. Do I make myself clear?"

Her hand that was holding her chopsticks was starting to shake. She had never been this close to an actual enemy. The CIA seemed to be just grabbing whatever they could get. Sending disposable people like this poor girl to spy on people like Koko that has people like me in her employment just shows you how cheaply the real holders of power in the CIA value everyone else that is below them. As always when it comes to them, I'm not surprised. Even though she's a quirky ditz, she doesn't deserve to be sent to a predator like me.

I chuckled innocently. "I'm glad to see my authority as an officer in the United States Army hasn't lost its touch. Keep eating, I gotta keep you around for at least another hour."

"Wait. Were you just messing with me?"

"Everything except that I have to keep you occupied. Just make up some bullshit to Scarecrow, I don't care. Isn't he half a retard anyway?"

She smiled, relaxed again, and went back to scarfing down the raw fish and rice wrapped in seaweed.

"He's basically a walking prick. But if you get him to look past his ego you'll find that he's actually quite tenacious in following shady business deals."

"Well if he's taken this long to see if Koko's allegedly involved in anything he thinks she is, he ain't gonna have anything solid." I then dipped my shrimp in the spicy green paste I ordered as extra. "Try the wasabi, it's not as hot as you might think."

"Mmm. That's not bad. It's a good balance of heat and flavor."

It was a simple method but it seemed like it worked. Being normal in such an abnormal world can have it's benefits. She then looked at me confused.

"What's wrong?"

I just stared back for a moment. "I'm not what you expected am I?"

"Well…you didn't make a good first impression."

 _At least she's talking to me normally._

"Eh. In my experience first impressions mean nothing compared to when a man is actually on the job."

"The feeling is mutual. If I had a dollar for every damn time Scarecrow called me a bimbo I wouldn't need that diamond."

"Well just call him fuck face every time he says that and he'll stop eventually." I paused. "Then again you can get fired for something like that, but it's a start."

She then quietly chuckled to herself.

"So…Koko told me you left the Army on some pretty bad terms. What happened?" She asked innocently.

I stopped chewing my rice. I was glad she didn't tell her everything. Or if I was interpreting her correctly, anything at all. And it wasn't something I just share with anyone.

"I fucked over some people that deserved it. And now I'm paying the consequences." I dug into my next bowl of rice. "Anyway what in the hell was that "Tacky Wacky" you had?"

 **0200 Hours**

 **London, United Kingdom**

Not too long after Kasper Hekmatyar's announcement of HCLI's Global Grid, Scarecrow got another order from Bookman. Find anything of interest in Koko's finances that relates to the Grid. After another failed attempt to let him know that he didn't work for him, Scarecrow was formally briefed on the Grid's in's and out's. Other than technical aspects, he didn't see much difference in the system apart from saving money. But he'd been getting closer and closer to figuring out what Koko was planning. Only problem was it was a centimeter at a time, and this was another in a string of all nighters he had pulled. It also didn't help that Schokolade didn't answer his call but he was too tired to care at that point.

 _That dumb bimbo. I'm sure she's just wasting time eating instead of working._

He was about ready to call it a night. The other day he had received some extra help from the tech department that he finally saw as useful if not a bit hyperactive. His name was Kyle Murray, and he fit the image of a college computer geek without even trying. Even with going twelve hours of not taking his eyes off of his computer screen and downing can after can of energy drink.

"Murray, I'm about ready to call it a night. Anything else I should know?" Scarecrow said groggily.

"One things for sure this weapons chick is loaded! Most of her assets were in stocks and bonds but two years ago she started liquidating everything. In a very controlled deliberate manner too. Careful not to ruffle the market or get the attention of security and exchange commissions." He said clicking away on his mouse looking through various on two screens.

"Where's it all going?"

"Well while faint she has left a trail that passes though Swiss dummy corporations before being invested in Marchen. Which of course was used to build that factory in South Africa."

"What about any of the other banks that her company invests in?"

"I've gone over all five that HCLI has as well as investments in and there's not a single transaction."

This was the next crumb on the bread trail that Scarecrow had needed. When he first saw it, the amount that Koko had invested had made his jaw drop hard enough that it went through the floor. It made no sense to liquidate everything into a toy factory of all things.

"Means she's keeping all of this Marchen stuff from the home office. You think Kasper and Floyd have caught on?"

"I don't see any sign from here. Maybe there digging in on the side too using outside sources." He then clicked on the window for Marchen. "I just don't get why an arms dealer would start sinking all of her money into a toy factory. Unless it's not one."

Scarecrow knew that this kid who didn't even look past twenty didn't know how espionage or even finding international criminals worked. But he couldn't help but scoff at his own superior knowledge on the subject.

"The cash flow seems to be more in line with a full fledged military establishment. Maybe she wants a monopoly to manage what she distributes. It would be a dream come true for an arms dealer."

Scarecrow then growled. He didn't want to go to bed with this on his mind.

"Every villain's dream and a nightmare for others. Closer we get to Koko the more sneakier she gets. It's like she's always nine steps ahead. I got a bad feeling by the time we nail down her plan's it'll be too late. What's worse is that now I HAVE to rely on that fat asshole back in Langley."

He then checked his watch. He'd call Schokolade back in the morning. Scratching his blond hair he decided to sleep on the couch in the next room.

"Don't spend the rest of the night on that damn computer Murray. Get some rest."

 _Sniffing out the money trail is what I do and I ain't gonna let some chick that think she's beyond the law push me outta the way. Mess with the Scarecrow, you're gonna get burned!_

 **1130 Hours**

 **Shinsaibashi Hotel, Nishi-Ku, Osaka, Japan**

The change for the meeting spot was more beneficial for Hiro Kiseragi, not too far from work and he could pick up lunch for his dad and crew workers. It must have been a quick in and out for her this time since they wanted to meet in a hotel lobby but at least she wanted to let him be comfortable and have a classy atmosphere in the process. Koko had done business with him before and it was one of the reasons why the computer hardware company his father owned had started to boom. Normally every time she did business with him, it was always good. Even though her body guards were always the ones he saw first.

"Good to see you again Mr. Kiseragi." She said with the opening pleasantries. Dressed up in her business attire as usual.

"Oh the pleasures all mine Miss Hekmatyar. What do I owe the honor for this time?" He said with his English that had been improving with a firm handshake.

"Well it might seem like I'm about to kick you and your dad to work harder but I think you'll like what I have to say."

As the two children of business owners went on with their discussion, Koko's squad sniper and her sister stood guard together watching people come and go, families, businessmen, and tourists. But one thing Lutz wished would go away was the screaming hangover he had from his challenge to Damien the night before. He had already taken past the recommended amount of aspirin and it still wasn't working. Valmet though was wishing that Koko didn't send Damien off by himself to keep a certain bird from watching them. Even if it was harmless, they always worked as a team.

"How's the head?" She asked.

"Well I puked out everything I didn't need inside me this morning so I don't feel as bad as I look."

Sometimes when one drinks they start to think about other things that might have been insignificant to them at one point but then treat them as a life or death situation. Normally while their intoxicated they're mundane, useless, and more often than not stupid. But every now and then a truly serious matter occurs and the drink forces it out. Lutz wasn't alone in these thoughts, he shared them with Damien openly but he didn't know if he and Valmet shared them mutually.

"Hey Valmet. Can I ask you something."

She turned her head to him and he kept his eyes forward.

"You notice the little lady getting more…aggressive lately?"

She knew that it didn't have anything to do with her abduction from the MSS last month. It was her trip in general around Asia and their mission in Russia.

"The Dr. Baburin job? Yeah I know you and Damien were sharing second thoughts with each other. But come on, did you really thing we were some type of moral crusaders serving justice and fighting the bad guys? Even Damien would laugh at you for thinking about something so stupid."

Lutz expected that kind of response from her to him. He just did his best not to roll his eyes but he needed a solid answer from her. This is just what she did as establishing herself as one Koko's trinity of Alpha's. The second was obviously Lehm. The third got to see, feel, and experience what he could only dream about and not worry about the risk of getting a knife plunged into his throat. He was his best friend, but he hated his ability to get away with so many antics.

"What we do and what Koko expects from each of us require what some would call drastic. Above all we're not her brothers crew or your run of the mill hired guns. She's never sent us out to deliberately kill other people to make things easier for herself, her business, or us. Our job is to support Koko, not question her. And before you say anything else…Hex was different."

Lutz was going to ask how that was any different anyway. He held his tongue and saw the bigger picture. Hex had been harassing Koko for years but no matter what, she always kept her distance or ran. Damien however must have seen an opportunity to permanently end a threat and he seemed to do it on behalf of both Koko and himself. He didn't tell anyone else but as his friend Lutz saw that there was something personal in that little debacle. And not just because R was killed, it was something more.

"In fact Lutz…" Valmet then turned towards him forming her hand into a claw with a crack of knuckle. Only one person she could have gotten that little trick from.

"Yes?" He said somewhat annoyed but somewhat scared that Damien wasn't here to restrain her if she got angry enough.

"You've got some nerve to question Koko in front of me of all people. You wanna see aggressive?" But she then calmed down. "But I get it. You knew how'd I answer before you even asked. You only wanted your grievances on the table and your right. She has gotten a little aggressive in her actions as of recent and I'll give it more thought. But I believe in Koko."

He had to ask. He told her everything. "Well what about Damien? Has he given any thoughts to this?"

She smiled, genuinely. A rather rare sight that Lutz didn't see often and it was nice.

"He only wanted to know that all of us wouldn't be in danger."

"Hmm. Man doesn't always live in the moment. Makes me _almost_ not want him to feel my throbbing head pain for making me drink so much."

"You brought that on yourself you dumbass."

As the two bodyguards continued to man their posts Koko had begun the conclusion to her meeting with Kiseragi.

"I'd like Kiseragi Photochemical Engineering to issue ten million new shares for me to purchase. That way I'll become your largest shareholder and investor."

Hiro opened his mouth in an overjoyed awe. His companies fiscal year had begun with a tremendous purchase from a rather generous customer.

"I can't even begin to tell you how pleased I am to hear that Miss Hekmatyar. Now our companies work can continue without interruption. Of course though I'd be lying if our other minor investors and creditors took issue with that big of a purchase."

Koko expected that issue would come up. It's a textbook move in the business world where competition reigns supreme.

"Tell them that the stock wouldn't improve for as long as you were in the red. Just accept my payment, continue your project, and reorganize the business end of things. Do that and the other shareholders will approve. If need be I'll hire a professional restructuring consultant for you."

Christmas had just come way earlier this year for Hiro Kiseragi and his father's company. He not only scored a major financial deal but also provided the tools to maintain and manage it but needed assurance as to way Koko Hekmatyar was willing to ensure that he succeeded.

"This is all rather overwhelming if I do say so myself Miss Hekmatyar."

"I see the value in the future you and your father are trying to create. I'd like to make it real." She then opened the product brochure she had brought with her. "Quantum dot photonic crystal nano devices. Spend whatever it takes to get them into production and I'll tell you where I want them delivered."

"Done." He said with confidence.

"And that concludes our business for the day." She said as they both stood up and shook hands.

"Always a pleasure Miss Hekmatyar!" He then hurried off pulling out his phone. Probably telling this father the good news.

She then motioned to crew spread out across the hotel that the meeting was over and they all formed together as they exited the place.

"I take it that he liked what he heard?" Mao was the first to ask.

"I half expected his eyes to start sparkling, he was so thrilled."

"Now that's out of the way. Where to next boss?" The big driver asked as they exited the building.

"Well we still have to pick up Damien, but first I have an announcement to make." She then stood on top of a bench, not caring about the other citizens of Osaka staring at her. That and she had Damien keeping Schokolade away from her.

"Everyone! This concludes HCLI's expedition of Pacific Asia! For now I have nothing else planned until we head back to Europe so you're all free to cut loose!" She then held up her finger just as everyone was about cheer. "BUT! Next month I'm going to require your full cooperation in a matter I know that you all can accomplish. That is for later, now let's have fun!"

"Kaaaay." They all said.

 **1200 Hours**

 _Hadoken!_

 _Spiral Arrow!_

 _K.O.!_

"Goddamnit."

"That's not gonna work Damien! Try something else!"

I had to do something to make the time go by faster and just walking her around town like a dog would have been boring. Video arcades may have been a dying theme back in America but in Japan it was just as booming if not even more. The arcade version of Super Street Fighter 4 just came out a few months ago and I'd figure we'd play this until we ran out of Yen coins. But technically Schokolade was playing, I was getting my ass handed to me. When it comes to beautiful women in any form of competition, I just can't catch a break.

"Ok final round. Do or die."

 _It all comes down to this! FIGHT!_

This time I started to use all the basic moves and use only the specials if I had an opening. We both exchanged some blows and backed off when we weren't getting through ones defense to try again. When I was kid, I only played fighting games at other kids house's. I always played Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong. When I got older I only played games if I got bored and even then I was prepping myself up for West Point and any other form of Army Training so I didn't really have much experience. Far cry from the pretty blonde girl.

 _Talon Spike!_

"Bingo."

 _Shoryuken!_

The uppercut knocked her out of the air and it opened up for a good combination. I managed to push her health bar down to the red. We both came close to each other and then backed off, but the timer was running out. It was time to take a risk with a focused strike. But when I heard the preparatory sound, I knew it was over.

 _Lock on! Gyrodrive Smasher! Finish!_

 _K.O.!_

"Aww crap."

She then peeked her head out from her machine with a proud look on her face.

"You lose."

"The game already said that chocolate girl." I said with a growl.

"Aw come on don't be a sore loser."

It was time to make a point. And make sure I had room to do it.

"Well let me say and show this…HYA!"

Simple standing high kick, holding the position for about five or six seconds. Of course my normal kicks were focused on a height of people that were always shorter than me. That didn't mean I didn't keep myself flexible. The blonde techy, as well as the Japanese patrons, had a hard time looking away either in awe of my pose or me.

"Real fights don't end when your bar is empty. Ahh…lets go do something else I'm bored."

I knew that she was gonna follow me anyway. She can't do anything or go anywhere without her passport and satellite phone. So she then grabbed her super large soda she was sipping on the whole time and hurried behind me. But as we went back outside to the cold afternoon my phone started to buzz. Koko had sent me a text that they were done, which meant so was I. I typed back a text on which street to meet me at.

"Looks like you're on your own instead."

"Huh?"

"Koko's coming to pick me up. You don't have to deal with me anymore."

I then dug into my coat pockets and gave her phone, wallet, watch, and everything else I took from her back. Even though I managed to spend an hour or so having fun and she wasn't terrible company, I was just supposed to keep her distracted. She also worked for the CIA and if she is a nice girl it doesn't matter. I will never associate with an organization that was part of why my life turned out the way it did. But she didn't know any of that, and I intend to keep it that way.

"Wait so that's it? You're letting me go? No goodbye at least?"

"Goodbye chocolate girl." I said plainly.

"Ugh. It's Schokolade! It doesn't mean I'm made out of chocolate!" She shouted as I left her behind.

But before I went two steps I stopped and remembered something. I felt like an idiot for not remembering earlier.

"Thank you buy the way."

"Uhh…you're welcome?" She probably thought for being well behaved.

"No." I turned around. "For helping Sophia track down her unit's killer. If she didn't say it, _I_ thank you for doing what you could for her. It's appreciated."

"Oh, well it wasn't anything really. I just gave her some places to look. Wait, do you mean Valmet?"

"That's not what I call her."

She then looked to me confused but I just stared back. It took a few moments but the surprised look on her face led me to believe she put the pieces together.

"So what do I call you?" I asked.

I couldn't leave this like that. Building bridges always helps.

"I don't think I should tell you that. Can I trust you?" She said unsure.

I just shrugged 'Ok'. I didn't care one way or the other and went on my way. But nine steps later I heard her shout. Not very subtle.

"It's Prudence! Prudence Dietrich!"

I took my hand out of my pocket and waved that I heard her without looking back.

 **2330 Hours**

 **Amami Onsen**

 _So takoyaki was just octopus wrapped in bread. Well at least I can cross that off the list of things I won't eat unless I'm literally starving to death._

I just laid down facing the ceiling of my room thinking about the remnants of the day until I passed out. I know that since were done out here Koko would want us to focus on what she needed us to do next month. But I had another problem on my hands, another bout of Sophia's jealousy. When I didn't even do anything except keeping the CIA away from Koko. It's not like I can just stop every man that walks by _her_ without taking a second look, any sane man would.

But all she saw was me with a girl. This really had to stop, it was getting old. And it looked like I had a chance to do that when I heard the door slide open. She finished cleaning up, kicked off her sandals, laid down on the futon facing away from me, and swiping away all the blankets. She probably expected me to snatch them back and get me to react but I took the passive approach this time.

"Can I have one of the sheets back? It's a little cold tonight."

No response.

"Fine. I start sneezing, it's on you."

As I shut my eyes I heard her growl and then sit up.

"Don't try and dance around a problem again. I know Koko gave you a task and who you were with didn't matter to me."

 _Ok. Glad to be proven wrong on that._

"So what's the real problem?" I asked with my eyes still shut.

"It's the matter of you going off and doing things by yourself. Again. Why didn't you at least take one of us with you? I wouldn't have cared."

I decided to switch back to the forward approach. She didn't need to worry about me that much, I can handle myself.

"This issue is already resolved. It had to be just one of us and if we did a bag and tag then Big Brother would have brought the hammer down on Koko and us. Schokolade may be a little too carefree but she wouldn't hesitate to rat us out to Scarecrow or the CIA in general if she felt like her life was in danger."

"Regardless you still took a big risk." She still wanted to make an argument. "You could have at least had me tag along and I would have kept my distance."

I squinted my already shut eyes tighter and made my tone firmer. Now I just wanted to go to bed.

"There's no point in discussing what I could and couldn't have done. This matter is resolved and there's nothing further to talk about. Good night Sophia."

Simultaneously I felt force press against both my shoulders and weight land on my stomach. I thought before I opened my eyes I would see the look of Sophia being mad. But I was wrong again, as it was frustrated annoyance.

"This needs to stop Damien."

"Oh for God's…."

"Shut up and listen to me! I'm not mad on how selfless you're being. I'm mad because you do it a way in which you value your own life as worthless. It's not! But you keep putting yourself on the line and you don't even realize it. I told you that you do have a home now. And you told me that you didn't want to lose me! Well I don't want to lose you either!"

She then planted her face in my chest while digging her fingers into my shoulders so much it started to hurt. But what followed was far more painful to hear.

She was crying.

"I love you." She said with a sob.

There are moments in my life it which I had no response to. This was the one however, I dreaded the most and it was sooner than I would have expected. So much so that I couldn't even move. What can a man like me say or do in a situation like this? It wasn't fear of rejection, commitment, or any of that other crap that any relationship expert will spew out. It's something I can't get rid of even after I've managed to change so much because it kept coming back.

It was myself. I'm a monster. And it is in a monsters nature to do harm.

She then lifted her face up off my chest to look at me with a tear filled but hopeful gold eye for a response. But all I could give was a look of abject terror. No words were needed for this moment. I can't give that answer until I know that monster is dead.

And I don't know how to kill it.


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48: Arranging the Pieces**

 **March 1** **st** **2011 0700 Hours**

 **East Sussex County, United Kingdom, HCLI Training Grounds, "The Kill House"**

Getting back into ones comfort zone always relieved stress and God knows I needed it. Even though we carried on with our refresher training as usual, the week and change had been dragging down my private life more and more. Those three words that Sophia said to me were as if all of my worst fears had come to life. How in the fuck can I tell a woman that I love her back when my only true talent is just cleaver ways to kill. I always knew she was better than me. So what in the world can I give her in return?

"Ok guys remember you're using live rounds this time. Make sure of your targets before you pull the trigger."

Lehm was just being formal in what was about to happen next. All of us were loaded for bear in our unilateral kits that hid us from associating with any other type of military unit. Except for differences in size and height we all looked as one with our dark green field uniforms and balaclavas covering our faces. I was a little surprised that we all donned helmets this time, normally I was the only one that did. But it seemed that Koko wanted us to prep for another job like we did with Dr. Baburin. The details so far on what we were going to do next were a little sketchy.

At least our heavy kits kept us somewhat warm as Me, Tojo, Ugo, and Lutz were about to take the first round through the kill house inside of a large hanger that was just as cold as it was outside. The seasons in England tend to be either crap or nice, there's no in between. Our team was Skoll and the other half of the team, Hatti, were waiting for their turn. Another interesting choice of team names from Norse mythology that went along with this "Jormungand" thing Koko was working on. They were the giant wolves that chased the sun and moon. At least until when they catch and eat them and Ragnarok began.

He also deliberately split Sophia up from me as much as he could. So that when we had to run certain exercises as a team the drama would be kept to a minimum. He knew the tension between the two of us was uneasy for the last week and from what was about to happen, everyone needed to be on their game. I quietly thanked him before we first started the kill house with blanks. He's the lazy type, there ain't no question about it, but the old bastard cares more than he lets on.

"Breach in 3...2…1…GO!"

Lutz was the first in the four man team and threw a flashbang into a building with reinforced bulletproof walls with no roof. Being part of GSG-9, this was second nature to him. Then we all went through and took our designated paths checking corners and being sure of targets. We all had our suppressors on our rifles so that we made the situation as real as possible. Not just to be discreet but that also if you fire off a regular gun inside of a confined space you'd be fucking deaf before the day's over. It was a lesson I learned the hard way in my training a long time ago.

As we cleared the first room we each used our own unique hand signals to move on to the next one. As we then stacked up and moved into an upcoming hall a pop up silhouette then came out with the shape of it holding a rifle. Lutz double tapped it in the heart and it fell back into its position. We then approached a closed door in the hallway that would lead to a confined room, it was mine and Tojo's turn. While Lutz and Ugo covered us, I booted the door open and took the right in which the door opened and Tojo took left. Inside were two pop ups but this time only one had a rifle in the silhouette. We both double tapped it even though only one of us was supposed to.

"Clear!" I shouted alerting Lutz and Ugo to begin moving back forward.

The same process of fluid movements was repeated for the next several rooms. The adrenaline flow made us practically unaware of the cold but the sweat we were building up as well. Overlooking all of this from an observation tower was Koko with her fingers on the buttons to control the targets, lights, and any form of sound trap that we might trigger if we were careless. It was normally a standard procedure whenever we did these but it didn't happen once this time. I didn't care, it made it easier. And as we came across the last room where the "hostage" was being held we kept the motions running as smooth as a fancy gold pocket watch.

"Sleipnir this is Skoll 1. Hostage secure and were coming out." Lutz said.

Sleipnir was Odin's war horse. Kind of appropriate for Lehm but I think Koko was giving him shit.

" _Copy that."_

Ugo then effortlessly lifted the weighted dummy over his shoulder and we went back the way we came as I kept us covered from the rear. As we exited the kill house, the alarm sounded that we were done. Koko then came on the bullhorn.

" _Good job guys. Time was ok but speed wasn't a priority here. Tojo take over for the next run. I need to talk to Lehm and Damien."_

"Got it Koko!" He shouted up to her. And then got the attention of Team Hatti.

The rest of us then started to take off our kits and made for the cooler filled with water. As I took my helmet and balaclava off I then started to hear rain tapping on the metal roof of the hangar building. Wet and cold was something I always hated even if I wasn't in it. The weather was just as I felt at the moment when I saw Sophia stacking up with the rest of the team that had been with Koko for a lot longer. Her hair had gotten back to its original length and was poking out from under her mask. She then disappeared into the building and began the drill as I saw Koko coming toward us. I motioned to Lehm to meet her halfway.

"So what's up boss?" He said lighting his next stick. The first suppressed shots in the background.

"This next job is going to require the best out of all of us. That's why I need you two to make sure that we have every detail nailed out so that when we execute this mission, it all plays into our favor."

Maybe I should have listened to what Viktor said. She did have somewhat of an apathetic way of speaking with her usual smile. I probably should have noticed it when she was fawning on me all the damn time.

Should have.

"So what do you need this time?" I said if I was bailing her out again.

"If you want to know how real this is Damien I'll tell you. We foul up on this one, even I don't know if I'll be able to protect ANY of you once the dust settles."

She didn't smile that time. Looks like this was one where I had to decide if the action was worth the risk. Lehm was even taking the time to ponder this. His bored look didn't change but I could tell he was thinking this one through. It was just by letting the cigarette burn in his mouth rather than smoke it.

"Well you know I'm in boss. But I would prefer that the both of us agree before we take this on. No sense in going in halfcocked."

Man was reading my thoughts. Not word for word but the feeling was mutual. And I know he was thinking that this had something to do with Koko's project as well.

"So what does this 'Jormungand' thing still need?"

"Just a person. Another employee acquisition you could say."

"So who are we kidnapping now?" There was no other way to spin it. I let her know, but she didn't care.

"Minami and I were going over a list of names and there was one in particular that is rather talented in getting around certain obstacles and not leaving a trace."

It took me a few moments to piece it together but it was obvious in the end.

"What do you need a hacker for?"

Her smile widened slightly. "Glad to see your catching on. Simply put, it's the last part of the machine and then I just need to put it all together. Finally, I will make good on the promise I owe you."

Her New Years Resolution that I had a hard time trying to swallow. I had no idea how she was going to do it but she'd said she do it, no matter what. If I had a chance to finally leave this life behind and start anew, I'd take it. And maybe I could tell Sophia what she needed to hear as well. Only challenge is, what am I going to need to do.

"Ok. Where is this person at?" I asked carefully.

"The Camp No black site at Guantanamo Bay."

"What!?" I said unsure that I heard her correctly. Honestly I prayed that I did.

"I wouldn't ask you of this, either of you, if I didn't have the utmost faith in you two."

It must have fucking bordered on zealous cause I couldn't believe what she was asking us to do. She had to have totally lost her mind. Even though it's one of the US Navy's oldest overseas bases leading back to the Spanish-American War, it only came into public common knowledge when it was decided that it be turned into a prison for terrorists we apprehended in Iraq and Afghanistan since the war started. Along with a number of other places where the US wasn't supposed to be. I had only heard rumors but there was a spot where we placed some very unpleasant people that we didn't want to waste the courts time with. Camp No came up rather frequently. And it's name was my immediate answer.

Lehm was a little taken back by this too but he didn't have my reaction. He just blinked a lot. But before he was about to say something but I cut him off before he could speak.

"You're goddamn right you wouldn't and the answers no! Forget it Koko!"

My shouting caught the attention of the rest of the crew wondering what the outburst was all about. Lutz and Ugo stopped halfway through their water. Tojo didn't even pay attention that Team Hatti was done and had to ask a few times over the radio before he responded.

"Kid…why don't you give Koko a moment to explain." Lehm said.

"Wait. Don't tell me you're going along with this? You realize what hell she's asking us to do?"

"I didn't say that. But at least hear out the details on WHY she needs this person in the first place. Then you can decide if the reward isn't worth the risk."

"I already did. Forget it! I'm not doing this Koko! Not this time!" I said backing away and heading towards the hangar side door.

I then kicked it open and went out into the cold rain making for the rec building to get changed and get a shower. I did not want to deal with this shit. As if my problems with Sophia weren't bad enough, now I think Koko truly had a screw loose. I had long since abandoned my loyalty to my country but that doesn't mean that I will go into a fight knowing I can't win. We already had run ins with two of the worlds major powers and now she wants to tempt fate with people that I've been actively avoiding for the last three years? I had just finally shaken off Hex, permanently, and she wants to do this. She had to be out of her mind. Not to mention the fact that her plan involves breaking into a US Military Prison that keeps the absolute worst people on the planet away from society. Not that the CIA, NSA, DIA and all the letters in the alphabet soup really cared but even with all of the accusations and finger pointing that had come out of our little slice of Cuba, there was a reason why some of those people were there. A lot of moron's tended to forget that the United States was still technically at war. Even if you're on an aircraft carrier with a banner saying "Mission Accomplished" it only ends when one side stops shooting at the other.

"Out of all people I expected that would give the most support for an operation like this I didn't think you'd turn it down and run without hesitation."

 _Of course you'd follow me out here and scold me._

She met me halfway in the center of the training compound. The rain pattering the concrete ground with considerable noise. I just turned around to face her in her raincoat with a look that I wasn't changing my mind. She just looked back at me getting soaked with her piercing ice blue stare. I didn't want to start building friction with the woman who gave me another chance but I couldn't let her make a fatal decision like this.

"Since we're out of ear shot of everyone else I'll ask you this up front. Are you out of your mind?"

This time I spoke to her in the tone in which she knew I was placing her safety ahead of my own. I still didn't forget what Sophia said though.

"I thought you wanted to go home. Why are you willingly throwing away that chance?"

"I want to do it in a way where it doesn't risk losing everything I've managed to regain. And that includes everyone else." I said pointing back to the hangar. "I'll say it again. Do you have any idea, ANY idea at all, what you're asking us to do!?"

She then shut her eyes, formed her lips into a line, and took a deep breath through her nose. One thing that she does get truly mad at sometimes is when I question her judgment. I must admit though more often than not, I'm wrong. She didn't shout back though, just took the time to come up with a response.

"I'm not flying by the seat of my pants Damien. I know the risks that this involves and I know exactly what that means. I'd be lying if I said anything else. Going up against the CIA and the United States military at the same time to get the final piece I need for Jormungand. So I'll say _this_ again, I wouldn't be coming to you with this if I wasn't 100% sure you could do it. I can't trust anyone else except the eight of you."

Even for me this was asking a lot. The Gestapo that are masquerading as spy's doing their country a service can eat shit and die for all I care but I didn't plan on going up against the rest of the United States. I see no sense in making enemies with people I've never met. But after all the crazy events I've experienced with Koko, her being stupid wasn't one of them.

"Hypothetically speaking. How do you know for sure that we can outsmart them, along with the rather large Marine contingent that's not too far away, and make a clean break for it?"

I probably wouldn't even need a shower considering the cold rain was getting to the skin.

"I've weighed and measured the factors for everyone else too. I know you guys can do this quick, clean, and quiet. I've already begun the necessary preparations to make sure that the outcome of this falls entirely in our favor. The _Fruition_ is going along with us with a few extra surprises."

"What you HAVE is not the problem Koko. Question is still HOW?"

"Actually what I have is something that will keep all of you alive. But it still needs human action to make it work. I'll explain later because that's where you and the old man will come in."

"I still…"

" _Now_ this may seem cliché but we do have the element of surprise right off the bat. It would be the last thing that anyone at Gitmo would expect. And don't say _'Because no one's stupid enough to try it.'_ " She said cutting me off and reading my thoughts at the same time. "It's not impossible, just extremely difficult. Plus, prisons are designed to keep people _in_."

"Well what do Lehm and I have to do with any of this?"

"You two are the most informed on the procedures of how black sites work and operate. Lehm did this his whole military career and you have the most up to date knowledge of them. Plus you know from experience that there are huge holes in security. All we need is just to get into the prison, take who we need, and we leave. Simple as that."

I then let out a frustrated growl. She wasn't listening to a damn thing I said. Towering over others, physically and metaphysically, with my presence alone usually got peoples attention. But I never once wanted to use it on her. I felt like shit doing it.

"If it's that fucking easy then why don't you just walk right through the front door and work your usual magic? I've done some risky things but this is clearly out of my league. Even if by some miracle you pull this off, there are consequences to doing dumb shit. Believe me I know." I then left her behind to get changed into dry clothes. "I'm sorry Koko, I won't do it."

Nine steps later I heard wet sounding sprinting from behind and she got in front of me. She wasn't about to give me another one of her embraces. The hood on her head was covering her eyes but her teeth and fists were clenched. If I shoved her out of the way, then it was over. So I had no choice but to take whatever she was going to do.

"You promised me…" She said calmly.

And then she hit me in the chest with considerable force. I felt it through the plate.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave me alone!" She yelled.

She then hit again and didn't really stop. I stood there in shock on how she was abusing the hell out of her hands.

"I don't lie to people I cherish! Furthermore, why are you running away from a chance in where you can LIVE again!? Why did you forget that!? I said to you that I'd let you go home! That you wouldn't have to spend the rest of your life with nowhere to go! How can I do that if you just abandon us!? My sister!? Me!?" she screamed.

I then grabbed her hands or else she would have broken something, her knuckles were already bleeding. But she continued to kick me in the legs. I think that this had to be the first time in my life that being hit hurt so damn much. The drama that I had tried to contain just shifted its way over to Koko. What terrified me though was that it was a complete mirror image to what happened to me and Sophia recently. I don't believe in fate, but this was one of those moments where I believed it was mocking me.

What poured salt into the wound was hearing the heaving sobs coming from her as she began to stop. And she was right, I did promise her. And here I am acting like a fucking idiot in front of the woman who pulled me out of the abyss my life was turning into. I had a chance to make everything right again and I was pussying out. But the problem was that this choice was a double edged blade. It be either my achievement at redemption or my biggest regret yet.

"Stop crying…please." I begged.

I then let her left hand go and pulled back her raincoat hood. No surprise her eyes were bloodshot, at least the rain coming down hid the tears. I placed my gloved hand on her face and rubbed it with my thumb.

"Before I say anything I want you to answer me honestly."

"I always have Damien." She sniffled while placing her left hand on mine. "What is it?"

"Can you do what you say can do?"

"Yes." She said with confidence.

 _No other way but forward._

"Then let's get your hands looked at. You'll need 'em for what's about to happen." I then squeezed her other one gently. "And please smile. Genuinely. For me?"

She did just that. "Thank you."

We touched our foreheads together and then got out of the rain to look for the first aid box. Our next trip was going to be to Cuba.

 **March 6** **th** **2011 1930 Hours**

 **Langley, Virginia, CIA Headquarters**

Bookman knew that Koko Hekmatyar's recent actions in her round about trip through Asia would start gaining the attention of the other departments in the agency. Operation 'Under Shaft' was still in effect to bring her under his thumb and with what she was beginning to put together he was hoping to get whatever it was along with the Global Grid. With the recent purchases of some rather highly advanced and highly expensive technology he had called in a meeting with one of the tech experts from his staff along with a few investigators who dug into the lives of some rather intelligent people that also skimmed the lines of international law. With some of the people that Koko was associating herself with he asked his deputy, Rueben Narville, to pull up the status on a certain hacker named "Chatty Rabbit's Foot."

"Well what have you managed to find out?" Black asked at the end of the table.

The blonde haired gentleman with green eyes behind glasses then addressed the meeting with the facts he seemed to have memorized by heart.

"Koko Hekmatyar's recent actions indicate she's gathering parts and personnel for something big. She's already partnered with four advanced nano manufacturing firms in Asia. And if you include bringing in a few computer experts and the abduction of Dr. Baburin, all signs point to the direction that she's building a quantum computer."

"That's just science fiction." Bookman didn't buy it.

Quantum computing was supposed to be the next evolutionary step in computer technology but the technical workarounds were still in the theoretical stages. The expert though wasn't as skeptical as his superior was.

"Maybe. But think about it sir. We may not have flying cars or jetpacks yet but some of the technology we have now would have felt like that not more than a decade ago."

"Come on Charlie." Narville butted in. "Quantum computers? Even the top scientific experts in the world say we're still twenty years away from even getting them to be even developed. And that's IF things go our way."

"Those so called 'experts' are nothing but conservative pencil pushers. You forget that Miss Hekmatyar's best friend is Minami Amada. One of the best roboticists in the world, if not THE best. Her unorthodox methods and theories are revolutionizing computer engineering as well. I do have a feeling that her and Koko have been planning this since they were teenagers. I'm actually surprised they've kept a secret like this all these years. But now since there in the building stage there's too much evidence to point that a quantum computer is in their focus."

"Do you believe she knows that we know what she's doing?" Black asked.

"If they've made as much progress as I suspect, it doesn't really matter at this point. Of course all of this is just conjecture."

Bookman knew that Koko had a knack for pulling off the impossible. And with the infamous "Nightmare" at her side, she had not only money but the talent and power to make it happen. Even if those she brought into her fold didn't cooperate willingly.

"What happens if they manage to build the computer?"

"In layman's terms a quantum computer takes only seconds to calculate and formulate a solution to something, anything. Compared to what a normal super computer would take decades to do. Even centuries if we're thinking outside of the box. Encryptions, passwords, firewalls, security algorithms, everything that protect our governments electronic devices, communications, weapons R&D, classified events, even identities of undercover agents around the world would be cracked like an egg."

Looks of concern then covered the entire table, including the secretaries that were just supposed to assist their supervisors. Even with top secret security clearance, this was little much for them considering the threat that possibly loomed in front of them.

"Our missile defense protocols and military decision making though are not fully automated. Men have to be kept in the loop. But in a launch situation or an act of war the capacity for human error can be eliminated."

Black and his deputy Narville then relaxed. There was such a thing as nonsense.

"Now that just sounds like science fiction." Black simply said.

"I'll admit Charlie you had me thinking that she just came up with the plans for making SKYNET."

"Truth is stranger than fiction. Mark Twain has never let me down."

"Well I doubt Mark Twain ever imagined that information can become formless. And speaking of things that are and are not there, Katherine, what did you manage to find out?"

The lady with short hair that chose to stand opened her folder and began reading off of a file. The name she said immediately confirmed Bookman's suspicious that she was about to become Koko's next abductee.

"Ibrahim Faiza aka "Chatty Rabbit's Foot", Egyptian national, age 39 years old. A political dissident, hacker, and internet sensation among those that like the freedom of information no matter the cost. He came from a well off family and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a doctorate in Quantum Physics. During his time in Cambridge he became interested in politics and came up with a thesis called 'Social Revolution Through Information'. After receiving his doctorate he attained a position at the Western University's Theoretical Physics Laboratory. At that same time he launched his 'Information Revolution Network' which threw the internet and certain spots in Arab nations into chaos. Which all of us know as the 'Arab Spring' that's occurring right now. Through his own personal hacking he'd find and post top secret information and then disappearing down the proverbial hole which earned him the name 'Rabbit's Foot' and…"

"It'd be easier to just say Julian Assange only with a different appearance." Black said cutting her off.

He already knew everything about The Rabbit's Foot, including a few things on the file that weren't entirely accurate. Bookman was the one that took her offline by force because she was little more aggressive than the real leader of Anonymous but decided that she could be of some use if the time ever called for it. He hoped though it would be never.

"Also, minor correction, it's Layla Ibrahim Faiza. She's a twenty eight year old woman. Narville?"

He smiled because had already had the live feed for her "Cell" at Camp No brought up before the meeting started.

"This is the Camp No live feed from her place." He said with a remote in his hand turning on the screen behind them all.

"Camp No?" The lady asked shocked that it even existed.

"That place is so highly classified the last three administrations didn't even know it existed." Charlie said.

But what came in on the feed though was something that no one expected. Instead of a dark and gloomy prison that seemed almost medieval, was what one would normally see in a five star condominium with the design of an open floor plan except with no windows. Bookman's way of trying to earn her trust by treating her more of a guest than a prisoner. On the screen that came up was a young and rather beautiful Egyptian woman riding around on a Segway. Wearing glasses and her messy black hair wrapped up in a messy pony tail she looked like she was a college grad merely enjoying her weekend rather than a doctor in physics.

" _I'm bored. Maybe I'll play the new batch of video games I got."_ She said in a mix of a British and Arabic accents.

"As you all can see that's 'Chatty Rabbit's Foot'. She's held under much more different conditions than the rest of the prisoners there. Obviously this is top secret."

The rest of the staff knew that was their orders not to say a word of what they just saw or they'd disappear in a flash. He then turned to Narville.

"You know what since we're checking in on things why don't we check in on Professor Amada?"

The deputy then did what his boss ordered him to and clicked to a live feed of a down looking satellite overlooking the Marchen Facility in South Africa.

"I ordered one of our eye's in the sky to keep surveillance on Koko's new factory. It's late at night in Port Elizabeth right now so I don't think we'll…" The image that came up on screen was vastly different than what he expected.

"Well imagine that." He said undeterred as the image of several women appeared on the screen. Healthy, beautiful, naked women to be more precise, enjoying a hot bath on the roof of Marchen.

Naturally it drew out some blunt comments from the staff.

"She has a hot spring in her building?"

"Is this live?"

"Chief, are you using our equipment to play 'Peeping Tom'!?"

A wolf whistle. "Good Lord."

Bookman let his staff get it out of there systems before he continued. Surveillance and information gathering wasn't always just facts, numbers, and the occasional adrenaline rush. Things of the erotic nature come up more often than usual. It's simply a part of being human. But he couldn't deny the fact if he wasn't a happily married man, he would have stared a little bit longer. He then began with the black haired one scrubbing herself. He got what little information he could about her from Scarecrow. He was glad he got anything at all from the arrogant agent.

"Karen Low; Professor Amada's personal bodyguard. Details on her are a little light but not terribly important. Former PLA Lieutenant that failed to protect her superior and somehow got a broken arm not long after that. Lady in the glasses is Amada herself." He then paused. "Hey, is that blonde who I think it is?"

Narville answered. "Yep. That's Elaina Baburin."

Bookman then noticed his deputy focus and then start to quietly chuckle to himself.

"Something amusing?"

"I just noticed that those three look like animals in human form. A fox, a racoon, and a rabbit. And I'm not talking about Layla, she would fit a squirrel."

Bookman then bursted out in a hearty chuckle. It was little moments like this in his work that kept him sane after so many years.

 **2020 Hours**

With the meeting concluded, along with a few stink eyes given to Bookman from the female members of his staff, everyone went home for the night. But Black and Narville had one last talk before they concluded their business for the day. They saw the risks Koko was making clearer than anyone. The only problem was that Bookman didn't know to classify her as a threat or not. The playing field was still evenly matched.

"After she left Osaka she headed back to Europe and that's where we lost track of her. She's probably still on board her ship or using her father's empire as cover."

No one was left in the building and no one still as they went outside into the cool night of the CIA's parking lot. So they could talk as they pleased.

"How is she doing?" Narville asked.

"Slippery as ever. But your friends 'conjecture' could be more on point than he knows. I got word from Scarecrow of how much money she's liquidated into Marchen. The number is in no way, shape, or form funny. She's making a move and there's only so many directions she can take."

"Do you really think she's gonna take Rabbits Foot and put together that computer?"

Narville didn't know how his Chief was doing but he was shuddering on the inside. A system that could shatter any type of digital defense like a rock being thrown through a window would terrify anyone.

"Let's prepare for the worst case scenario so we don't get blindsided. I have a feeling we'll meet again before she makes the final push. She's not the type to close off options but she does want to make sure the ball is in her court. Especially when she has players that not a lot of people can stop."

Narville knew what Bookman was talking about. Her bodyguards were also her own Spec Ops Unit, picked from some of the best unit's around the world. And one fellow American who he didn't think would go that far.

"So he's real? And she has him working for her?"

"Nightmare's only a man with a reputation. But if that reputation ever went public we'd practically lose world interest and trust in our military to sort out problems some nations can't solve on their own. It'd be just giving the bad guys the proof of what everything they say about us is right."

"So have you met him?"

Bookman didn't answer. He just looked straight ahead as the both of them continued to walk to their cars. Narville knew that he just asked a question he shouldn't know about. So asked a different one.

"Never mind, I don't want or need to know. But how's Patricia? She's going to be a year ahead of Arnold isn't she?"

Bookman then turned from Section Chief to proud dad.

"He's not going to Virginia. He's going to Texas A and M once the summer's over. The boy's having a problem though trying to figure whether he wants to do teaching or do something with finance and accounting."

"Longhorns huh? Good choice."

 **March 15** **th** **2011 1200 Hours**

 **London, United Kingdom**

"So that's what's going to be happening. Until then we'll be going under the radar and pray Koko's little toys and fakes work."

The last week had been another constant stream of drills and scenarios for all types of extraction operations. I also found out that the chopper pilots that helped us in Russia, Rothrine and Gordon, would be our air support and our extractors once we had this hacker girl. Along with Koko and Tojo giving me and Lehm a rundown on how to work a few of her rather fancy hacking gadgets that were disguised as smart phones. Including having a few fake identification cards made for us. Koko was gonna give the formal briefing of what we were planning to do tomorrow but I let Sophia know first before the rest did. Just to let her know what was at stake. Her loyalty to Koko was unquestionable, and that's what made me so concerned. I wanted to make sure that it didn't cloud her judgment.

I also let her know what happened on the training site wasn't anything she needed to be concerned about. The only reason why Koko's hands were bandaged up was that she had to beat some sense into me and that I deserved it. I'd figure making a lunch of some pan fried trout would leave her more open to conversation. The old man and I were staying at one of the hotels near Heathrow before we headed out to Cuba. So I picked a room with a kitchen to try and take my mind off of the stressing fact that I was about to perform espionage against the United States.

"Very well." She simply said.

She did at least listen to me because I wanted to let her know I was serious. The moment I mentioned Camp No her gold eye focused on me entirely. I was glad I wasn't just pissing into the wind. But it was about as far as conversations went with the two of us as of recent. I speak, she acknowledges and barely says anything else. She wanted me to answer her back, and that isn't something I can just do.

"Sophia please. This has got to be the most dangerous thing any of us have ever done. Don't just brush it off like another job."

I wasn't even halfway through my food so I just set my fork down and hoped this didn't lead into another argument.

"I'm not. I've been putting my life on the line almost every damn day since I met Koko. I don't intend to fail her now." She then wiped off her mouth and stood up to leave. "God. You and Lutz have been having problems with your intestinal fortitude as of late. Take a moment and dig deep for a bigger set of balls cause you're gonna need them when the time comes. But I get it, and you have a right to be concerned. But above all else I believe in Koko. So she knows you and the old man can get her what she needs. A lot of this is riding on you both so don't screw up."

She sounded like she just jumped right back into her FRDP days. It was just as if all the memories the two of us had together just faded out or became irrelevant. I did some regrettable things but what the hell would warrant me not mattering that I even existed. I needed to put her mind at rest so it'll at least last until after this was over. Then I would at least try to tell her what she wanted to hear. It's not so easy to do when your own worst enemy is yourself.

"Is that it?"

"Yes." She said as she grabbed her jacket with her knife and sidearm underneath it.

"I meant is that it for us?"

She paused for a moment and then hurried in her leave.

"Well that's painfully obvious isn't it?" She said flipping her hair out of her coat with frustration.

"All because I couldn't say it to you just yet?"

"I wasn't lying. So I'm done waiting."

She went for the door but I got out of my chair and fast walked behind her. I then reached across her head and pushed the door shut as she started to open it. I was already in dangerous waters but I couldn't turn back now. This was the first time I knew for certain that I would actually have a future and the possibility of spending it with someone.

"Damien, move you hand off of the door before I break it."

I ignored the threat I told her a few things I didn't forget.

"You said you would prove me wrong if I thought the worst was going to happen no matter what. Well I want to let you know that you don't need to worry about that anymore. All the negative baggage that I've carried around since God knows when has conditioned me to think like that all the damn time. I am such a dumbass for not realizing that sooner."

I took my hand off the door. She didn't turn around but she stood in place.

"I know it sounds like I'm making excuses. But I'm still gonna hold that promise I made to you that you won't end up like me. I won't fail you on that."

"Mmm." I hoped to get more out of her but she became less tense.

Deciding to take a page out of Koko's book, I then got closer and simply wrapped my arms around her while placing my head on her shoulder. Her blind side. I tried to always do that out of habit so that she would know that I was there, even though she couldn't see me. While cheesy, it had purpose.

"I also told you that you're better than me. It's one of the big reasons that drew me towards you. So let me say this. If we make it through this, I'll tell you what you want to hear. I swear."

When she leaned her head into mine, it was all I needed to know.

"You mean it?"

"Only after this is done. Not before and I'm not jinxing us. I really like the odds this time and losing is not really an option for me."

She then got out of my hug and turned around. Her smile, genuine. Her gold eye, confident. Her hair, darker that night. Her fair skin, flawless. But what was different was that she stood up on her toes to kiss me. That never happened before.

"Then don't fuck this up." She then grabbed and patted my face. "You magnificent idiot." She said as she left.

Her attitude, back to normal.

 **March 16** **th** **2011 0830 Hours**

 **Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba**

It was another beautiful day in the Caribbean. As the morning sun began to take its place in the sky it began to steadily warm, made slightly worse by the humidity. There were several tropical storms that had swung by the bay but they were all out at sea. They were however getting closer to the mainland and the next one would swarm the base as well as the detention centers. While a hazard, it was not on the priority list of alerts for a certain leader of SEALs and his team.

"El-tee we been on this security alert for the last week an a half. I'm telling you it's a fluke."

The bellyaching came from one of his team leads. Sitting as if he was a bored high school student waiting for the bell to ring. He, the Petty Officer, and many of the other sailors had went through the same BUD's training together. So he knew he was just blowing off his frustration. But he could feel his pain since he'd been making these morning meetings mandatory for some possible infiltration threat on the base. They were starting to become repetitive. His team had been on break for long enough. It had been time to go to work again.

"I seem to recall you using those exact same words before we had to go find those guys that were harassing Leatherneck. Suck it up Robertson. If we're not doing anything, then that means somebody somewhere is doing their job right."

"Whatever, D."

"Shit man. Somebody doing their job right? When's the fleet EVER sailed straight?" Another said expressing his conservative opinion.

"When there's free pussy in port. The hells a matter with you Blake?" Said another asking if his common sense was out of tune.

"Hey leave him alone man. It ain't his fault all those radio shows he listens to got him thinking stupid shit." Another said ribbing his teammate.

"Hey! Fuck you man. Listen a little and you may get a better knowledge in the way the world works."

"Alright! Enough! Save the debates for whenever it's time for cervezas!" The Hispanic Naval Lieutenant said getting his teams attention.

Not all bonds were forged through training. A lot of it was also how a unit spent time with each other on and off the battlefield. To the casual viewer it seemed like childish bickering but Dante Mendez's saw that he was in command of a truly fine and responsible team. Going through numerous triumphs and hardships, and still coming out being better than they were before. Even though their security clearance was a lot higher than most, there were always days on the job where you just had to get through it without going crazy.

"Was there anything else new sir?" The quiet member of the team spoke.

"No new updates yet Cannelli. SOCOM says just to wait for any new intel and be on our toes."

He then grabbed his ballcap with his units unique patch on the Velcro and put it on his head. Proclaiming that they operated best at night.

"Night Nine, you're dismissed."


End file.
